"Dark Visit"
By: Nieme Yaresh
Dani
Mysterious Stranger

Location: Thanatos
Date: Lythe 13, 4 ABY

***

From his perch in the window, they looked very comfortable. It wasn't often such darkness was mixed with such contentment. Curled in each other's arms, sleeping soundly, it was unusual. Though, it stirred something within him. A leering smile curled over scarred lips as he watched, feeling them in their slumber, in their dark, erotic bliss. He slipped into their room, silent and invisible. Moving with sure precision, he made his way over the cluttered assortment of their discarded clothing.

It had been some time since he had seen them, watching from the shadows, watching their descent. They were good here, despite the Hutt. The Sith would teach them well, though he would need to make certain they learned the lessons they needed. He knew of Vorgoth, but didn't trust him to teach that which Jadda didn't command.

He slowly lowered himself to the bed, seating himself next to where Nieme lay with Dani's bare arms draped over her. He smiled once more. It was only moments later that Nieme moaned in her sleep and shifted towards his pull. There was unconscious arousal and the lure of Dargus' inherent power; soon she was on her side, curled up around his seated form. Gently, she writhed against it, as if oscillating along the pulses of resonant darkness coming off Dargus, and in her sleep she chuckled, then whispered, "Delicious."

"I know," he answered, his voice a rasp. "It is good to see you again after so long. Do you want to show me how happy you are to see me?"

Nieme sighed, and nodded, her heavy lids fluttering open, but closing again. "I'll show you," she murmured, and guided by her carnality, her ever-present lust, Nieme's hand slid unbidden into Dargus' pants and grasped his erection. With a smooth, deft motion she had it freed, and whispered, "Welcome home," as she unconsciously leaned forward and enveloped it with her mouth.

A long sigh escaped his lips and soon became a moan of pleasure. "I've missed you very much," he said as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Very much indeed. Though, you will be introducing me to your lovely friend, won't you? I was distressed to not be able to meet her before."

Dani, Nieme's mind purred, to both Dargus and her lover. She's returned to the darkness.... I'm so proud!

"It is something to be proud of," Dargus whispered. "Very proud, indeed. I can feel her darkness, and yours. It is...intoxicating."

No, she told him. You are. Nieme raised her head, releasing his organ, and now awake, she grinned at him, despite his marred features. "You're not dead?"

"It was a long fall, but I managed to survive," Dargus said with a smile. "Recovery was slow, but I had help. I thought about you often. I could feel you, growing in power...and in lust. I approve heartily, you know, to both."

Dani had woken herself and crawled over to where Nieme and Dargus sat. With a smile, she took over for where Nieme had left off.

Chuckling, Nieme stroked her lover's hair while sitting up straighter to lay kisses upon Dargus' scarred cheek. "I'm glad you've come," she whispered. "We're planning on conquering Tae'Karada, and your help would be greatly appreciated."

"I would gladly lend whatever help I can to your cause," he said as his hands freely roamed over their bodies. "Especially if such help includes working very close together like this."

"It's better than working with that Hutt and his Zabrak," Nieme retorted with a distasteful frown. "They think we're imbeciles, weak and ineffectual...." She chuckled. "Well, I'd like to show them differently."

"There is nothing I like better than surprising someone who has underestimated me." He looked down at Dani's head bobbing greedily upon his erection and smiled. "Well, almost nothing."

Nieme giggled and looped her arms around Dargus' neck. Dragging one finger along a scar across his cheek, she pouted and asked, "Who did this to you? Hm? It wasn't nice at all...."

"I think you may know him," Dargus said with a cruel smile. "He goes by the name Liam Zaneth. Would the two of you like to help me pay him back for what he did to me?"

"We would," Nieme answered slowly, "but he's not on the planet. Last we heard, after Yelara died, he took off."

Dargus chuckled. "He'll be back," he said. "Or we can chase after him. No matter--oh that's good--no matter, we'll make sure he pays."

Nieme sighed and snuggled up against Dargus, her lips still planting kisses along his jawline. "Can we go to the Temple too?" she asked. "They have something of ours we want back."

"Gladly," Dargus said. "It's been so long since I've visited the Temple. I'm sure there are a few people there I'd like to visit with as well. I hear Jedi women are rather...voracious."

"Especially our Talara," Nieme told him with a sultry wink. "They stole her from us, and they're going to pay." She grinned and playfully nipped at Dargus' chin. "But for now," she whispered, laying Dargus onto his back, "relax and enjoy. You do need to get your strength back, after all."

Dargus smiled. "I can feel it coming back already," he said with a slow smile. "And, I will gladly help you get your Talara back. Do you suppose she'll like me? She sounds very...nice."

"Oh, she'll adore you," Nieme enthused. Grinning mischievously, she appended, "And while we're at it, I know someone else who would suit your needs perfectly.... She used to be a whore."

"My favourite," Dargus said, a delighted purr in his voice that mixed with his overall ominous tone, creating an effect that sent shudders through both Nieme and Dani. "The two of you are too good to me. I must be good to you in response. Name anything you desire, and I will make it yours."

"Well, that's easy," Nieme whispered, her wickedly smiling face hovering over his. "We want the palace. And we want Ferrig and Raeila Mullerin."

"Consider them yours," Dargus answered. "And, what of Talara?"

"Her too, of course." She chuckled and kissed Dargus' lips roughly, excited over the prospect of what a man of his power could offer them both now...and that was 'everything.'

"Then we have a deal," Dargus said. "It's been awhile, my sweet. Shall we seal our deal through an orgasm?" Dani moaned in delight at the prospect. Dargus smiled. "Yes, you two, my purple beauty."

"Well, I think we can manage that." Nieme slipped her hands beneath Dargus' shirt. Her fingers smoothed over the raised scars on his chest and abdomen, and Nieme shuddered in anticipation. "They don't hurt anymore," she whispered, "do they?"

"No," he replied as he gazed into her eyes. "Not any longer, though at first, I cursed the name of Liam Zaneth with every breath I drew. Now I just curse him with most of them."

She snickered and lifted his shirt fully. Her tongue dragged over every discoloured scar, making its way to his chest and throat. As their lips met briefly, Nieme smiled viciously and told him, "We shall curse Liam Zaneth and the rest of those Jedi together...Master. And then, we shall kill them as one."

"Except for those who we can control and who will serve other purposes. I think we deserve a harem, don't you?"

"Laedra Vorrel is back with us, if you're interested. Oh..." Nieme moaned as she pulled Dargus' bottom lip between her teeth, then released with a grin. "The Jedi have plenty of young Padawans now... We should go shopping someday soon."

"An entire harem filled with Jedi sex slaves," Dargus said with a happy smile. "I think I like the sound of that...very much. I don't want to be too presumptuous, but what do you think of the two of you being my queens?"

Nieme held his gaze with longing and utter ecstasy, and agreed with a deep, smouldering kiss. She and Dani would be queens of Tae'Karada, with their king seated handsomely beside them. With three dark Jedi at the helm, anyone who might wish to interfere would prove tragically unsuccessful.

---

"Easy Way Out"
by Xara Q
and Garst Julen [NPC]

Location: en route to Tae'Karada
Date: Lythe 13, 4 ABY

***

Xara Q rammed the transport into a swift dive, just as a laser blast grazed the upper hull. "Xara!" a voice screamed in panic over the comm.

"I know, I know," she muttered to herself. "Your precious little baby." She jerked the controls again and turned into a spin as one of the pirate ships shot past, caught off-guard by the maneuver.

"I don't appreciate having my ship picked apart by pirates!" the captain's voice screeched.

"Well, I don't appreciate getting shot at too much, myself, sir," Xara Q responded as a second pirate fighter leveled off, a stream of cannon-fire erupting from its front port. The transport wheeled upwards once more. "Totally under control, sir."

"This doesn't look like it's 'under control'! This is coming out of your--"

Xara Q flipped off the comm. "Talk to ya later," she muttered, focusing her attention on the blips that popped up on the scanner. Five - no, six fighters, now. Xara Q hit the comm again.

"Really pulling out all the stops, ain't ya, Julen," she said tersely.

The pirate's chuckle crackled over the open channel. "You know this would go so much faster if you'd just jettison their cargo, Ex. Just a few robotics parts or something, isn't it?" She didn't have to see the old thief's face to know he was smirking at her. "What's it to you?"

"Payment," Xara Q responded simply.

"Bah! I can pay you so much better than those frauds."

Xara Q dropped the ship into another wild dive. She heard one of the gun turrets open up and one of the pirate fighters spiraled past the front of the ship, damaged, but it pulled back out as some auxiliary system kicked in.

The pilot frowned as three of the fighters dropped onto her tail. "Forget it, Garst. I don't work for scum."

"That hurts, Ex. Really. C'mon, we had some good times, admit it," Garst Julen cooed over the intercom.

"Yeah. You mean you had some good times while I was busy taking the shots for ya."

"Never got hit, though, did you?"

"I said no." Xara Q punched the last bit of acceleration out of the engines, and the transport shot ahead of the three fighters.

"You know you could never out-fly me, Ex," Julen taunted as his own fighter shot in from above the transport. "You're gonna try, anyways, though, aren't ya..."

"I think that would be a given by now," Xara Q muttered through clenched teeth.

"Student thinks she's hotter than the teacher, now, hm? Well," Garst laughed, "allow me to refresh you in a few lessons."

Xara Q smacked the comm back off again as Garst's ship closed. The transport's engines shuttered as she tried to push some more speed out of them. Unfortunately, the ship wasn't made for this sort of fighting, and even with all three gun turrets blazing, she was badly out-gunned by the pirate fighters. Garst wove easily in and out between the turrets' defensive fire.

Xara Q swore roundly as a few laser bolts bounced off of the transport's thin shields. "Captain," she warned.

"Hyperdrive'll be on-line soon! Just hold them off while I get the coordinates from the computer."

"I can only hold her together so long, sir, and if they bring an ion cannon out on us...."

"What? There's no ship there capable of carrying an ion," the captain protested over the comm channel.

"Believe me, they've got one. She's out of range right now, but if this goes on too much longer, they'll bring her in," Xara Q said sharply. "Trust me."

"Hyperdrive's on-line. Two more minutes."

Another blast rippled in front of the ship. "We don't have two minutes, sir!" Xara Q spat the word "sir" with some level of contempt.

"Scanners show four of the ships pulling off. You can hold two, right? I thought you said you were good."

"Shit."

"What?"

"Nothing." Xara Q checked the scanners. The captain was right: all but two of the fighters were pulling off. Quickly, she snapped on the comm once more. "Don't you dare, Garst!"

"Hey, you don't leave me much of a choice, Ex. My boys are getting tired of the hunt." He chuckled softly. "Although I was just starting to enjoy myself." His fighter shot upwards in a tight spin just in front of the transport's nose, forcing Xara Q to pull up.

"Almost got the coordinates," the captain's voice reported.

"Not good enough, Captain. We've got trouble of the worst kind coming our way."

"What do you - shit."

"That's what I said," Xara Q responded wryly.

Over the comm, Garst Julen was laughing at her. "I'm sure you remember my favorite carrier, don't you, Ex?"

A large ship shot into real-space just above and to the right of the transport. Xara Q could see the carrier's large ion cannons swinging around to get their mark.

"Captain?"

"Almost there..."

"Not what I wanted to hear!"

Garst continued to laugh, letting Xara Q listen in as he gave the order: "Zaraceuse, fire at will. That's what comes from playing hard to get, Ex."

Xara Q spun the ship upwards as an ion blast crackled past. "Damnit, Captain, if you don't give me a way out of this, I'm dumping the cargo!"

"You drop that cargo and I'll take it out of your hide!"

"If I don't, you won't have the chance," Xara Q spat back.

"Almost...got it! Coordinates set. Get clear and punch it."

"Aye, sir!" Xara Q didn't need to be told twice. She spun the ship around into the rush of the two fighters. The transport's turrets blazed and the pirates had to pull out. Xara Q shot straight between them, then reached down and pushed a lever forward.

She let her breath out slowly as the familiar spiral of hyperspace engulfed the view. Sitting back, Xara Q muttered once more into the comm, "We're clear. Estimated time of arrival to Tae'Karada space: six hours." With that, she flipped the channel off once more, folding her arms over her chest and watching the stars as they zipped past.

***

Garst Julen stalked onto the bridge of the Zaraceuse. His second-in-command looked up. "Lost 'em, sir," the man reported.

Julen gave the man the look he reserved for fools, and the pirate shrugged, looking back down at one of the read-out displays. Garst was a tall, lean human in his mid-forties who always had a scruffy, five-o'clock shadow speckling his chin and a deadly-looking blaster at his waist. His bridge crew could tell immediately he was in one of his darker moods, and every single one of them started looking for excuses to be somewhere else.

"Rejoin the rest of the fleet," he grunted to the helmsman. "Ex wants to play this one personally. I want that transport tracked. Find out where the hell she's been hiding out lately."

"Yes, sir," the helmsman reported as another man nodded and went to one of the many terminals decorating the bridge.

Garst sat in the central chair, clenching his fists on the arms of his chair. "Not gonna make a fool out of me, Ex. Not this time."

---

"Blood Vengeance, Part One"
A'Kin (NPC+)
Silm (NPC)

Location: New Plouton
Date: Lythe 13, 4ABY

***

The wind blew across the platform, catching his coat as he stepped out. The wind wasn't cold but it was fairly strong. He quickly made his way up to the speeder, waiting in the middle of the landing platform. He'd just finished a meeting with the rest of the City Council, if you could call it that; they didn't have a brain between them.

The rear door opened automatically, allowing him to climb straight in. Once inside he let out a long sigh as he sank into the leather seat, leaning back, allowing his head to just fall back against the headrest.

"Sir... you have an important message from Campbell."

A'Kin waited several seconds before answering the droid who was piloting the speeder. He forced his eyes open, looking out of the window, watching the buildings and other speeders passing by. "Bring up the message..." he ordered.

A holographic screen came up in front of him. The edges seemed to dissipate into a mist that vanished into the air around it, but A'Kin's full attention was on Campbell, his face paused at the beginning of the message.

"A'Kin, I'm sorry, I've tried to get in contact with you for hours now but everyone I spoke to said you weren't to be disturbed," Campbell said once the message was allowed the run. "I have grave news; there's been an attack on your home on Naboo. Six were killed, nine injured in the attack and Niesha...has been kidnapped." It took Campbell a long to time to finally say it, hesitating several times.

A'Kin's heart seemed to stop beating! He couldn't breathe! The world seemed to be spinning out of control! His hand reached out, grabbing the wall of the speeder, steadying himself; he forced himself to look up at the holographic screen.

"Get Campbell now!!" A'Kin bellowed, his voice roaring throughout the speeder. Hundreds of questions were going through his mind. How could this happen? Who would dare? Who had the resources, the money? Was Niesha alive? Had they harmed her?

Suddenly Campbell emerged in the screen and he looked a mess like he hadn't sleep for a week. His eyes looked away from him like he was ashamed to look into his eyes. "I'm so sorry, A'Kin..."

"What have you found out?" A'Kin demanded.

"It was a professional hit. I've contacted most of your informants but none seem to know anything, either they don't know or they're not saying. Which means someone with a lot of influence."

"Is Silm still here?" A'Kin asked, leaning back on the seat, trying to organise his thoughts and calm his pounding heart, though it was a losing battle.

"I believe so..." Campbell was about to ask A'Kin something but the Kel'Ishan answered him before he'd even asked the question.

"Find out where he is and transmit the address to my speeder, set up a meeting with him within the next twenty minutes." A'Kin used his implant to close the channel, receiving a nod from Campbell before he vanished. As he waited he looked around the speeder. The expensive luxuries, the chill cabinet full of some of the most expensive drinks, the leather seats. But all his money and power, he couldn't even protect his own daughter.

A'Kin's train of thought was interrupted by a low beep. Reactivating the uplink a holographic map of New Plouton emerged; there was a red flashing dot in the old rundown sector of the city. Nicknamed 'Down Below' where the authorities tended to stay clear of.

"Take us into 'Down Below' and step on it!" A'Kin ordered.

The droid's head swivelled on its neck, turning to look at A'Kin while the rest of its body remained perfectly still. "Are you sure, sir? That sector of the city is highly dangerous..."

"Yes... I'm very sure..." A'Kin replied.

***

This part of the city was justly named. Buildings in ruins dotted everywhere, an occasional building appeared to be under repairs with scaffolding covering its walls but they had been there for years with no sign of work ever being started.

The people of 'Down Below' weren't put off by the ruins, the smell or the crime that spread through this part of the city like wild fire. As A'Kin walked along the streets he spotted children laughing and playing close by; two girls were throwing a rope around and around singing a nursery rhyme while a third jumped in the middle.

He turned into the dark alley, his coat dragging along the ground behind him. He looked almost like a Jedi with the large coat covering him from head to toe, the hood pulled up to hide his face. But a Jedi had morals, he didn't.

He reached up with his right hand, hitting the door three times. The noise echoed along the alley making A'Kin turn, looking up and down, making sure no one had heard. The sound of the flap being opened drew his attention back to the door. "What is it?!" demanded a thick male voice from behind.

"I'm here to see Silm."

The grunt from the man hidden behind the door indicated he didn't want to open the door and the notion he wouldn't flashed through his mind. Thankfully he heard the large bolts sliding free before the door swung open.

"He's waiting for you in the back..." the large man said. He wasn't well built but was twice the size of A'Kin in more ways than one. A'Kin didn't give him a second glance as he walked along the narrow corridor, feeling his eyes on his back. The booming music struck him before he'd even reached the door; he grabbed the handle, opening it, stepping through into the nightclub, wincing slightly from the deafening music.

People were dancing all over the dance floor. A'Kin looked around, taking in the surroundings. He spotted the bouncers immediately, wearing shirt and ties, standing stiff like they were on a military parade. Looking up, A'Kin saw the lap dancers above. The top floor was a large balcony that ran along three of the four walls of the club. The stairs were to his right, running up to where the lap dancers worked, gorgeous women in various forms of undress, though what clothes they did have on left nothing to the imagination.

He shook his head, looking over to the back rooms on the other side of the dance floor; he hadn't come for the dancers no matter how pretty they looked. Once the door was open A'Kin stepped through into the dark room. Only a single lamp pierced the darkness, lighting up the table and part of the two chairs that stood either side of it. Only one of the chairs was occupied.

A thin looking human with eyes that seemed far too large for his head sat on one of the chairs, his slightly bald head shone in the light as he leaned over the table, showing his crooked teeth as he smiled. "Welcome, it's been a long time, 'old friend'..." A'Kin immediately didn't like the way he'd said 'old friend' like he hadn't expected him to live this long, but something else was hidden behind it. If he hadn't been thinking of his daughter he would have thought about it longer.

"Where is she?" A'Kin asked, not wasting any time with the usual vocal foreplay.

"What? no, 'How are you?', 'Silm it's been seven years how've you been, what you been up to? Have any children?' Where's all the pleasantries?"

A'Kin slowly sat down on the spare seat, allowing the hood to fall back onto his shoulders; he looked over at Silm, his implant running up and down the low life in front of him. "First of all, Silm, you don't have any children or at least none you haven't sold or killed. Secondly, we're not friends so there are no pleasantries. The only reason I haven't killed you is the simple fact you've been useful in the past with information, right now that usefulness is wearing thin."

"You can't speak to me like than anymore!" Silm shouted, resting his right elbow on the table, pointing at the Kel'Ishan. "I have friends in very high places, a snap of my fingers and they'd be picking up what's left of you out of the fucking gutter!" Silm clicked his fingers together to make his point while he leaned back into the shadows. "You're not with intelligence anymore, hell you're not even with the Republic anymore. I know they've been trying to track you down and you've slapped every offer back into their faces. You can't scare me anymore; you've lost your touch. Get out before I have you thrown out." Silm paused as he watched A'Kin slowly rising up from his seat. "You're nothing but an old man..."

A'Kin turned away from Silm and took a single step towards the closed door before stopping. "Me not being with the Republic, you think that makes me less dangerous...or more?"

Silm's large eyes slowly grew wide with the threat carried with A'Kin's words. His hand reached under the table for the red button hidden underneath but his finger never came close to touching it. He froze still as a board when he saw the pistol pointed at him when A'Kin turned around.

"T-that...w-w-won't work in here, dampening field..." Silm said, swallowing though he had nothing in his mouth. His heart was pounding in his chest; his mouth was as dry as a grit, hurting whenever he breathed.

"Normally I would agree with you, but I always keep this with me for such occasions." He began tilting the pistol slightly as if admiring it. "Dampening fields don't work on projectile weapons, there's no energy to dampen." The reality struck Silm instantly and he raised his hands, putting them in plain view. "My patience was wearing thin the moment I stepped into your stinking club. You can imagine what it is now. Where is she?"

Silm blinked several times, his eyes wandering all over the room. They looked in every direction apart from A'Kin's. He finally got tired of waiting and pulled the trigger. The pistol had a silencer attached to its end, which cut the noise down by at least ten fold. The slight hiss from the pistol was joined by a loud scream from Silm as he was thrown back against the wall. He fell to the side off the chair, both hands holding his knee.

The bullet had hit his knee right in the centre, instantly shattering the joint and bones. Blood gushed out in what looked like gallons. A'Kin just stood perfectly still, waiting to see if anyone had heard. They hadn't. The booming music out in the club had hidden Silm's scream. The human shook violently as shock began to sink in. His eyes were fixed on his hands tightly gripping his shattered knee with blood seeping over his hands.

"If you don't tell me where she is I'll pull out your nails one by one and then slash your eye balls. It doesn't much matter what happens after that, but know this... I'll pour gasoline in your eyes to keep you awake." It wasn't what he said but the way in which he said it, calm as if he'd just been talking about the weather. Silm nodded furiously, one of his hands, covered in blood, rose up into the air, shaking as it hung in front of him.

"She's in Thanatos..." he finally said. "One of the crime lords there has her, locked away."

"None of the crime lords in Thanatos would dare do this, he would have had help. WHO!!" A'Kin shouted. He fired his pistol again with the same low hiss as the bullet was shot out. It hit the ground, chipping the floor, missing his other knee by millimetres.

"The council!" Silm screamed the instant he could get the words out. He'd thought A'Kin had shot him again. He'd moved, only slightly, but it was enough to send gut wrenching pain from his knee up through his entire leg. At the start he'd thought the pain was from his other leg but when he opened his eyes he saw the bullet had missed. "The city council members!" he repeated.

"They wouldn't do anything this big...unless together..." A'Kin thought out loud, giving words to his thoughts as they ran through his head.

"They agreed to only do this if they were all onboard. They put ten thousand credits each into a secret account. The money was paid to one of the Thanatos crime lords, Gelicc Melcar, to grab your daughter. He would send a list of demands, money...." Silm dragged himself up to the wall so he could lean up against it; sweat ran freely down his face, dripping from his chin as he looked up at A'Kin. "They saw trying to gain power....."

"I was rebuilding this city! Turning her around, cutting out all the corruption..." Then it struck him. He'd never thought it could be possible, he'd never imagined it would go so high up. The nod and gloating smile from Silm told it all.

"Yes..." he said with the smile. "They have their filthy hands in more schemes than you could possibly know, prostitution, money laundering, drugs...everything you were succeeding in bringing down. Everything they were elected to bring down. What irony..."

His smile didn't last when A'Kin lifted the pistol, aiming it at Silm. His finger rested on the trigger while he stared into the eyes of his victim. "Wait... I told you everything I know...! We've been friends for years... wait!"

"You know that time when your usefulness would finally come to an end?" A'Kin began, pausing for a long moment, allowing his words to sink in. "It's come..."

He pulled the trigger on his pistol three times. The first two struck him in the stomach, puncturing through into his intestines. Dark blood spilled out from the bullet holes, quickly soaking into his clothing. The last struck him in the forehead, right between the eyes, blowing the back of his head out over the wall behind him.

"Just because we've talked, doesn't make us friends..." A'Kin whispered, turning away from the warm corpse. Holstering his pistol out of sight he pressed the button on the side of the door. Once the door was open he slipped out of sight back into the deafening noise of the club, leaving Silm without a second glance.

---

"Blood Vengeance, Part Two"
Iyika
Karma
A'Kin (NPC+)

Location: New Plouton
Date: Lythe 13, 4ABY

***

It was late in the day. The sun over the city was starting to fall behind the tall buildings, casting shadows in the room where she sat. The living room was large with three large sofas, all leather, a raging open fireplace with the flames half vanishing up into the chimney stood in the centre of the wall. She sat on one of the sofas in the shadows; she didn't even notice the fact she hadn't turned the lights on, her eyes were just staring straight ahead of her. "It couldn't...it couldn't..." she muttered to herself.

Her eyes finally shifted, moving to the small vid-screen, showing Campbell frozen at the end of the message, large red letters were written across the screen Message Ended but Iyika ignored the letters. She had watched the message over and over and over again. She just couldn't believe it was true, but no matter how hard she tried she knew it would never be so.

"Kidnapped..." she whispered again, her hands tightening into tight fists. She could feel her nails digging into her palm. Images of memories flashed through her mind, of her sister playing with her while she was just a small baby in her arms, seeing her walk for the first time, her laughing at something only she could know, her first words she ever spoke to Iyika. How could this happen?! How?!!

Karma entered the room dressed far more casually for a change but in something Iyika always enjoyed seeing her in. "You look disturbed. Rarely do I see you in that state, Iyika."

"Vid-screen...off..." Iyika said through clenched teeth. She could hear her hearts pounding in her chest. She tried to calm herself, gather her thoughts but nothing worked, in fact it seemed to worsen. She looked up at Karma standing in front of the door. She always could drown the fire that sometimes raged inside her, but this time it didn't work. She slowly stood up, her hands still in tight fists. "I have to go..." she said. Her voice was nowhere near its usual calm emotionless state. She was shocked at how cool she had actually sounded, but it still sounded fierce.

"Iyika?!" It scared her to see Iyika this way. "Could you at least give me an explanation? You know I'm more than willing to do anything in my power to help. That's not too much to ask not after what you've done for me."

Iyika looked at her and managed to half open her mouth to reply but stopped herself. She hesitated, something she wasn't accustomed to do. "I can't..." she whispered, finally replying. "You'll want to help and I can't allow that!" Her voice grew from a whisper until she was almost shouting.

Karma just looked at her unphased. "And I can't let you walk away like this. You know me and I know you. Things can't be left like this."

Iyika stared into her eyes. For a brief moment she was trapped by those piercing eyes and was about to tell her, but that moment passed and she backed away from her, slowly shaking her head. "Things are what they are..." she whispered. Light! I hope she's all right! she screamed inside her mind. "I have to go..." She reached for the door, grabbing the handle.

"Wait." Karma slowly approached her. "I trust you to deal with this in your own way and know that I am here if you need me for anything. Let time decide what is right. However..." She gave her a quick hug accompanied by a kiss. "No matter what I couldn't let you walk out of here without knowing that and how much I appreciate what you have done for me."

"They've got her!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "She's only a child, twelve years old..." her voice lowered to a whisper. "And they're going to pay in blood..." That last was a promise that came from deep inside her. She put words to the raging fire within her.

Karma just held Iyika for a moment longer. "Do what you need to do and stay safe." Things like that irritated her; no one should subject a child to anything like that.

"My father knows who has her..." she said with certainty. She moved up to Karma, kissing her passionately on the lips. "I'll always love you..." she whispered into her ear before turning, heading out through the door. She vanished out of sight before passing through the threshold, shimmering like a ghost into the night... 'The Ghost' walks again. And god help anyone who stands in her way.

***

He stepped out into the street, finding the sleek speeder where he had left it. The rear door opened at his approach and he climbed inside. "Take us up..." he ordered, leaning back against the leather chair, thinking to himself.

"Where would you like to go?"

A'Kin's eyes slowly opened, looking straight ahead at the blackened window separating the rear section from the driver. The window lowered down. The droid was no longer there driving the speeder.

"Iyika... what the hell are you doing here?!" A'Kin demanded, rising up from the chair, moving up to the window, looking at his daughter. "Where's the droid?!"

"He's taking the rest of the day off... Did you think I wouldn't find out... she's my sister. God damn you, you were going to leave me out of this?! Out of this?!"

"I've lost one daughter... I'm not going to lose another!" A'Kin countered. He almost flinched at the look he got from Iyika. Almost. "Well... suppose there's no talking you out of this, without tying you to the bed..."

Iyika smiled, tilting her head to the side, giving that some thought. May prove useful with Karma... she thought while piloting the speeder. "Who has her?" she asked, looking up in the rear view mirror.

"A man named Gelicc Melcar... you know of him?" he asked, seeing Iyika's reaction to the name.

"I've worked for him before." She nodded as she answered her father. "I know where he lives."

A'Kin nodded, his eyes showing the anger that was boiling within him, festering, wanting to be unleashed like a raging inferno. "Take us there..."

"What do you want to do?" Iyika asked. "When we get there?"

"No one messes with my family... no one...! Not even the gods..." he said through clenched teeth, bitterness seeping out with every word. His dark eyes looked straight ahead with his arms crossed over his chest. "... Kill them... kill them all."

The speeder peeled off to the left, the engines roaring to maximum, heading off towards Thanatos.

---