"Deals Made, Alliances Forged"
By: Minn Starcrash
Reinrich Tas
Master D'Amara [NPC+]

Location: 'Nocturnal Delights', New Plouton
Date: Vadris 16, 5 ABY

***

By daylight, the outside of the club was unassuming and revealed none of the secrets hidden away from prying eyes. It nearly looked abandoned without the lights or people vying to get inside. It was a mystery that the place could stay in business with the Jau occupation. Some secret deal had to be made, something to allow the club to cater to the needs of the New Plouton population.

Minn Starcrash approached the door of the establishment. She knocked once and waited. It took several minutes for the door to open before she was let inside.

"You'll need to be searched," the guard said as he indicated where she should put her hands for him to make sure she carried no weapons. Minn placed her hands against the wall with a wary glance for him. He looked human, but a thick ridge that ran over his brow indicated something not-so-human.

"Don't you have a scanner," she asked as he felt his way up the outside of her thighs.

"Where's the fun in that," he drawled as he shifted his hands inside her thighs and began working upwards.

He wasn't ready for the elbow Minn threw at his nose, but apparently the bone that ran across his brow also protected his nose. A spike of pain worked its way through her nerves. Undeterred, she spun and thew him back with Force-assisted strength. Fear filled his eyes as her crimson lightsaber ignited and snapped into a lunge that stopped just before his chest.

"I think I will go in and speak with Mister Tas now," she said. "From now on, when I arrive, you will pass me through regardless of what weapons I carry."

"Right," he growled, but the fear kept him back.

Minn's blade flashed and the man screamed. He stared at the cauterized stump where his hand should have been. "A lesson," she said. "I am sure you will remember what I said from now on."

She deactivated her weapon and strode toward the back rooms where Reinrich Tas' office waited. She banged the door once, but didn't pause to wait. She pushed her way into the office.

"Guess who's back," she said with a grin.

Reinrich met her smile with a cocksure smirk and rose smoothly from his chair. "That was fast. I knew you couldn't stay away for long." He ran the back of his palm across her cheek when she was near.

"I would have stayed away longer," Minn said as she held up a holo-disc, "but my Master requested I return. A message for you about a possible future, and a dramatic rise in power. If you are interested, of course,"

"You don't know me well at all," he commented smugly. Reinrich accepted the cube and transferred it to the reader atop his desk. In moments a holographic image sprang to life, relaying the message sent by Minn's master.

The holographic figure appeared to be wearing some sort of dark, ominous looking armor. A long scar ran down the left side of his face, curling his lip into a permanent snarl.

"Mister Tas," the man began. "I am Darth Tarkul, or more casually known as Jax D'Amara. You are a man of influence within various circles on Tae'Karada, specifically within the metropolis of New Plouton. I have need of such influence. Those who stand as my allies will be greatly rewarded for their loyalty and service. I can assure you, that your rewards will be far greater than you can imagine.

"If you are willing to swear your loyalty to me, to become my agent, I give to you Minn Starcrash, my apprentice. She will serve you well and loyally. If you have issue with her, you need only speak to me and I will ensure her obedience. On occasion, I will still require her service while my new apprentice is trained, and ask only that you allow her to continue her work for me when it is required, which will benefit us both.

"In the matter of the Jedi, you must cease your inquiries and attempts to capture them. They will be dealt with in time, and when I have finished with you, I will grant to you the one you desire, with my thanks for your loyal service."

The hologram seemed to close in on him then, making the Sith Lord appear even larger, looming above both Minn and Reinrich. "Do not think that you can cross me and accept what I give only to turn against me at a later time. I will not think kindly upon that, and am well-educated in all manner of torture. Remain loyal, and all you desire shall become yours."

The hologram ended.

Reinrich was pensively silent, though there was a fiendish glint in his slitted eyes and a nearly ravenous grin on his lips. He glanced aside at Minn. "My loyal servant," he echoed in delight. "And all if I give up Talara." Reinrich shrugged and offered his hand to Minn. "An easy trade. You're far better in bed, anyway."

Minn had managed to conceal her surprise at her Master's message well enough, or so she hoped. Adjusting her gaze to his eyes, she placed her hand in his. "Of course," she whispered, and then added, "Master."

Chuckling deeply, Reinrich backed towards his couch to introduce his apprentice to the many ways she would be expected to serve him.

***

Minn's breathing had finally returned to normal as she lay on Reinrich's couch with him just behind her. He had made sure when her clothes came off they were out of easy reach, though with his arm holding her possessively around her waist, it would have been difficult to retrieve them anyway. She could feel his thumb tracing the outline of the brand on her shoulder.

"Shortly after Master D'Amara claimed me as his slave, before he named me as his apprentice, he put that there. It was his mark, his claim to me as his possession. It hurt like hell."

"Do I get to give you one of my own?" Reinrich smirked but quickly forgot the idea of branding Minn as his hand moved on to her nape, moving aside her hair to kiss the downy flesh it had been concealing. "If you're his possession, why was he so willing to give you away? The Jedi can't be that important."

"I don't think it's the Jedi specifically," Minn answered. "He didn't discuss any of this with me before he requested I return here to you. I think, though, that he wants me with you to ensure that you get into the position of power he wants you in. That way, when he's ready to make whichever move he's planning, you will have the power you need to support him. I am also a tool to him, and right now, I think he believes the best use of my abilities in helping to empower you."

"By performing as my sex companion?" Reinrich shook his head slowly, reluctant to believe things were so simple. "What is it your master wishes me to do for him?"

"Become someone important, powerful and influential here," she said. "And, when he needs your support, to give it to him. You do want to be rich, powerful, and able to decide the fate of others' lives, don't you?"

"I do," he answered slowly, "but not if there's a price. And I'm sure there is one, isn't there, Minn?"

"You give your allegiance to him, help him to achieve his goals," Minn said, "and I become your servant to help make you more powerful. Failure to support him would lead to your death. There are no hidden prices or secrets. Unlike my master's master, he always treats his allies fairly and justly, especially after what happened at Endor."

"Endor? What do you mean?"

"The battle between the Empire and Rebellion, the one where the Emperor was killed, took place there. Rumor's say that Darth Vader was the one who slew the Emperor. My Master doesn't want his allies turning on him or betraying them, so he treats them well and reserves the betrayals and other nastiness for his enemies, like the Jedi."

Reinrich laughed while pushing himself up onto one elbow. "Is your master a fool? The kinder you appear to your allies, the weaker you seem in their eyes. It's a vulnerability. Does your master not know this?"

"The fool would be anyone who acts against that seeming vulnerability," Minn said, a slow, almost wicked smile curling her lips. "Seeming vulnerable is by no means being vulnerable, and I have seen more than one man make that mistake. I've capitalized on that many times. I can play the cute, helpless girl act very well, and when someone falls into that, they're very easy to destroy."

"Then don't you for one second," Reinrich growled, clutching a fistful of Minn's hair and jerking her head back, "believe I'm buying that act. I may love women, but I don't trust them. And I don't trust you."

There was no fear in Minn's eyes as she gazed up at him, and a smile curled her lips. "Good for you," she said. "Though, you don't have anything to fear from me, it's a wise precaution. But, you're going to need to decide whether you're accepting Master D'Amara's offer or not. And if you do, I need a place to live. I've been living in this hotel in Yallder with roaches the size of reisacats."

Reinrich bared his teeth in a hungry smile. "You'll stay with me." Loosening his hold on Minn's hair, Reinrich dragged his fingers over her cheek as he added, "Where I can keep an eye on you."

"I'll need to get my belongings," Minn said. "And, if you want me to wear any pretty outfits for you, you're going to have to buy them for me."

"You're going to be an expensive acquisition, aren't you?" he quipped. "You'd better be worth it."

"I'm worth it," she said with an impish grin. "Though, if you have a test to see how good I am, just let me know. And, by that, I mean a job other than satisfying you in bed."

"Really?" he mused, and immediately his mind began working. There were so many tasks Minn could be useful in completing, but which first? Did he use her to finally capture Analesse for himself, or did he focus on more immediate business concerns? "I may have a job for you," he decided finally, "but it requires delicacy." This said while his hands kneaded her breasts roughly from behind. "Can you be delicate, Minn?" he whispered thickly against her throat.

She moaned softly and nodded. "When I need to be," she said. "I can be very good at not being seen and I know when to draw my weapon and when not to. I can be delicate."

"Then," Reinrich murmured, entering Minn from behind, "this is what you need to do...." And as Reinrich exerted his dominance over Minn the best way he knew, he divulged his plan to her. At last all he had hoped to achieve would be gained with the aid of his newest employee, and with it all the power he could ever have dreamed of.


"With Desperation and Outstretched Arms"
By: Meer'esh
Yelara Zaneth

Location: New Plouton Institute of Neuroscience
Date: Vadris 16, 5 ABY

***

The human body was a resilient vessel, capable of being subjected to extreme punishment without sustaining permanent aftereffects. That, Meer'esh knew firsthand, his decades as a slave providing such harsh lessons in the endurance of the flesh. But his isolated existence precluded any insight into the tenacity of humanoid emotion. Was the heart as resilient as the body? Could affection, once lost, be reclaimed? More than anything, even his own safety, Meer'esh cherished the love he had shared with Yelara and was physically pained by its loss still.

The longing had made him sick to the extent that he now had little appetite and barely slept. He spent his days wandering the palace corridors in a somnolent trance, acknowledging no one and caring for nothing. All that engrossed him was the idea of seeing Yelara once more, even if it jeopardized both; but the risks did not enter his mind as he secreted himself out of the palace in a dark cape and hailed a taxi away from Arcadia by cover of night. No doubt he would be easily recognizable, for the only members of his species on the planet were restricted to the palace and any seen outside of it would likely spark some attention, as most novelties did. It was for that very reason Meer'esh chose the hour before curfew to travel, and also why he had discreetly acquired a Flesh Camouflage device.

Doing so had been a tricky matter, for the Jau were cautious enough to remain wary of their thralls, and tracked their every movement, every communication. No tactic was beneath the Jau in preserving the safety of their empire, even ordering the Chev to secretly monitor their brethren and report any indiscretions; all were slaves to the Jau and obeying their overlords was paramount to racial loyalty, no matter how it pained them to betray their kin. Promises of freedom and a reunion with their families was an effective tool of manipulation, even if the promises were false. Meer'esh himself had realized that, now. For his years of obedience and service, he had been assured liberation, but his time with Yelara had awakened him to the treachery and cruelty of his master. He knew, now, he would never be seeing his brothers and sisters again. Likely, they were dead or serving on another Jau outpost in some distant galaxy, and all these years he had been blindly following orders were to no avail, except to gain more heartbreak. All that kept him from taking his own life was the hope that Yelara would forgive him, would love him as he loved her. And if she would not, seeing her was enough for now.

With the camouflaging device acquired from a local droid repairman - using rather clever negotiating skills and bartering six hours of his time rebuilding a droid brain deemed irreparable - Meer'esh had been disguising himself these past months as a middle-aged man with ordinary features that would not attract the attention of anyone passing him on the street. Even his entrancing violet eyes were dulled to a shade of brown with artificial lenses, completing the transformation; as of yet no one had seen through the disguise, though his accent puzzled some. By posing as shy and reticent, he had avoided any questions regarding his heritage, which was more effective than outright lies that might be exposed by anyone with even passing knowledge of the universe's various races. It was providential, then, that there been a vacant position on the night cleaning crew at the very hospital treating Yelara - there was no one to converse with, and no one whose suspicions might be roused by the homely old janitor who talked funny.

Choosing night to emerge proved wise - the streets were nearly deserted in preparation for the curfew, and there was just enough darkness to cloak his movements out of the palace. Even a personal aide to the Sa'taka wasn't given entirely free passage out of the palace - his frequent departures had been noted by Gal'traq and he'd been cautioned that his actions could be misconstrued as disloyalty if he could not explain why he required passage out of the palace each night. Meer'esh had insisted, deferentially, that he was only carrying out the Jau's work - wandering the streets in search of those who might wish to interfere with the planet's reformation, to expose them and see them punished. Gal'traq was wary, but temporarily satisfied with his explanation, but Meer'esh knew his visits to Yelara must end soon, to preserve her own safety. His own life was of no importance, not without Yelara alive and in it. This night had to be the one. He must reveal himself to her and know with a certainty if she truly despised him.

The front-desk nurse, as usual, barely glanced at Meer'esh as he walked through the door. Her only interest was in the holodrama unfolding on her portable player. Light from the moving images cast her gaunt face in shifting shadows, enhancing her sharp cheekbones and sunken eyes to produce an eerily skeletal effect. Meer'esh started when her eyes flicked up towards him, catching his stare. He hastily looked away and passed his ID card over the scanner to seek entry into the private wing. At such an hour, only the cleaning personnel were about, each responsible for a section of the hospital on a rotating schedule...and tonight Meer'esh had been assigned to the very wing Yelara had been secretly recuperating for months - lonely, torturous months for Meer'esh filled with longing for her. It was this burning need that propelled Meer'esh down the darkened, deserted corridor without stopping for his cleaning supplies; he was unconcerned with maintaining the guise of a custodian, instead seeking out Yelara before he was discovered.

Weeks ago he had sliced into the hospital mainframe and cross-referenced the date of Yelara's arrival, gender, and condition to locate her room. Night after night, he had visited those whose names his search had produced, for Yelara was undoubtedly under an alias; finally, only a single name remained and without a doubt it belonged to Yelara. It was with urgency that he tread through the hallways, filled with irrational fears of someone identifying him and preventing his reunion with Yelara. Paranoia gripped Meer'esh and the corresponding physiological responses snared his body in a paroxysm of trembling and sweating. His chest tightened painfully to constrict his airway; he wheezed and gasped for air, and was utterly overcome when he finally reached the door.

Meer'esh fairly tumbled into the room to land on his knees before the occupied hospital bed, heaving and sobbing faintly. Moonlight slanted through the windows to cast glowing bands of ethereal light across Yelara's sleeping form. Her serene face was angelic, and the slender hand beside which his own had landed was as delicate as he remembered when once he had held it; the desire to do so again was overwhelming, and lightly he brushed his fingertips over her knuckles, one finger after another. He trembled and smiled sorrowfully at the irony of skulking in darkness to steal one touch when he had so many times rejected her freely offered advances. Meer'esh regretted his cowardice now, for she would never offer the same again.

Realizing his folly, and regretting it, Meer'esh wept bitterly while his pale fingers crushed Yelara's hand in their desperate grip. So consumed by his grief was Meer'esh, he failed to notice the faint jerk of Yelara's hand and the tensing of her arm that evidenced her waking response to his presence. His sobs deafened him to the breathless, tremulous voice ordering him to explain himself, to explain why he was in her room. It was only when Yelara snatched her hand from his and rolled off the bed that Meer'esh, startled, looked up. Pressed up against the far wall and arms tightly hugging her chest, a sleep tousled Yelara peered with confusion and stark terror at the stranger crouched at her bedside. Blinking rapidly to disperse the haze over her eyes, she cried, "Who are you? Leave here!"

A half-scream escaped her lips as a disguised Meer'esh vaulted over the bed and lunged at Yelara, clamping his hand over her mouth before her body could react and flee. He wrapped his free arm around her waist to restrain Yelara, and his slender frame to pin her against the wall. She struggled ineffectually to free herself, her screams muffled by his palm.

"Yelara," he whispered soothingly. "Yelara please do not be struggling. I am only wanting to see you. This is all." She shook her head wildly but could not dislodge his hand from her jaw. "Yelara," Meer'esh pleaded, "be listening to me.... It is Meer'esh. I...I am here to be seeing you one last time."

Those words he repeated again and again until, little by little, Yelara began to relax. Finally, their eyes locked and recognition registered in Yelara's, despite the synthetic guise Meer'esh wore. Cautiously, he lowered his hand and reached beneath his shirt to deactivate the camouflage device. The artificial lenses were pinched free of his corneas, revealing their true colour. Yelara's eyes widened in mild amazement as his face underwent its transformation from middle-aged, dour stranger, to the pale-faced, violet-eyed celesital beauty that was Meer'esh. But that beauty was marred by a profound, burdensome grief that was apparent in the dark circles beneath his once entrancing eyes and the absence of that warm, self-effacing smile which had once captured her heart. Now, he touched her heart only with the sadness pouring from the very essence of his being; although he had deceived and wronged her, Yelara was incapable of feeling anything but compassion for him.

"Meer'esh," she whispered, raising her palm to his pale cheek. He flinched, not certain if it was a strike or a caress Yelara intended to deliver, but as her hand settled tenderly upon his face Meer'esh's eyes again filled with tears.

"You have given me forgiveness, then?" he asked hopefully. "I could not tell my master 'no'. I was having to lie to you, Yelara, even when I wanted not to."

Yelara nodded reassuringly, her tearful smile expressing that forgiveness he had hoped for. "I know everything. I know you secreted me out of the palace before I could be killed. You saved Va'Lesh, too."

"I could not be leaving him," he insisted fervently, both hands now cradling Yelara's face. Now hale and in good health, the once sharp and prominent architecture of her face had been filled in by soft, silken flesh. Although her features did not feel the same beneath his palm and fingertips, it was still heavenly to explore them. Meer'esh managed a relieved smile as she refused to pull away, and nearly forgot his grief as she shuddered faintly when he dragged his thumb affectionately across her lips. "I was knowing you would be pained if he were harmed," Meer'esh murmured, entranced and soothed by the sensation of Yelara's flesh against his.

Yelara swallowed hard, tolerating Meer'esh's exploration, even if uncomfortable with where it might be leading. She chuckled softly when his fingers threaded her raven hair, for his eyes widened in surprise as if he had forgotten hair could flow as easily as water through one's fingers. "Meer'esh," she called gently, and only when she did so a second time did he awaken from his trance, blinking slowly at her. "You still haven't told me why you're here. You-- You said this was the last time we would see one another."

"Yes." Meer'esh sighed, his face falling when reality was thrust upon him again and he recalled why he had visited Yelara that night. "It is being too dangerous to come again. They wonder where I am disappearing each evening."

"Wait...you've come before tonight? You've been watching me?"

"I had to be," he insisted. "I had to be making sure you were well."

"Why didn't you reveal yourself to me?" she asked.

Meer'esh shrugged. "I...I was afraid you would be angry, that you would not be letting me see you again. And I had to - I had to be seeing you. You might not forgive me, but I could not be forgetting you." Shyly looking away, Meer'esh muttered, "I am loving you still."

Yelara smiled ruefully. "I don't know how to respond to that, not after everything that's happened to me."

"I am sorry," he proclaimed urgently, his hands dropping to her shoulders and squeezing possessively. "I was wanting to protect you. They were meaning to kill you, Yelara. If I had been to tell you, maybe I would not have been getting you away from the Palace alive. Are you seeing this, Yelara?"

"I am," she assured him, her voice gentle and soothing. His grip on her arms loosened in response. "I know now that everything you did was to protect me, and I'm grateful." They stared at one another for a time, Yelara studying Meer'esh's depthless pale eyes and he searching Yelara's for some indication that she still reciprocated his affections. "Meer'esh...don't go back there. Liam can protect you - stay with us. You'll be safer with me than at the palace."

"No." He shook his head vigorously. "No. He will be finding me and I will be dead. I cannot be defying him, Yelara!"

"Okay, okay," she whispered, stroking his cheek to induce calm before one of the nurses heard his outburst and discovered Meer'esh. "Just...think about it. You don't have to decide now, but please promise to think about it. I don't want anything to happen to you."

He sighed. "I am knowing." Then he smiled, a glowing, heartwarming smile that was a glimpse of the Meer'esh Yelara had known, and the one she had fallen in love with for a time. "I wish I were not having to leave. If I could be staying with you all night...."

Yelara grinned mischievously and teased, "Are you seducing a married woman, Meer'esh?"

His cheeks blushed hotly at her suggestion, for he could not deny it was a pleasant thought and one that he had guiltily considered. Noting his embarrassment, Yelara drew his face towards hers and kissed his cheeks ardently. They grew even warmer beneath her lips, amusing Yelara. "At least I know now your timidity before and inexperience with women wasn't an act. I really was your first kiss, wasn't I?"

Still abashed, he nodded, lacking the courage to look into her eyes. Yelara cupped his chin and raised his head. His gaze followed, finding hers and seeing in them a fondness he had hoped might still exist there. "I don't regret our time together. What I felt for you was true and real, and if you would stay here, with me then maybe--"

"Do not be saying those things if they have no meaning, Yelara," he pleaded, pain clear in his voice. "I am thinking I had my chance, but you are having Liam now...."

"Stop," she whispered, experiencing the heartwrenching grief Meer'esh exuded. Her lips pressed to his brow, then his mouth. "Please don't burden yourself like this, not when I'm here with you now." To reassure him, Yelara laid another kiss upon Meer'esh's lips, in response to which he crushed Yelara in an ardent embrace.

For a long, savouring instant, Meer'esh returned her kiss then broke off, burying his face into the crook of her slender neck. "I do not want to be leaving," he told her, voice hoarse from desire and woe in knowing it would be unfulfilled.

Yelara brought her arms around his shoulders and laid her cheek upon his crown; she passed her cheek to and fro against the bed of pale curls to soothe Meer'esh. "Stay then. At least for the night. Then, in the morning, you can decide where you want to be."

He looked up abruptly, a passion and determination firing his stare. "Here," Meer'esh declared resolutely. "I am wanting to be here, with you." With the intensity of his love and yearning fuelling him, Meer'esh engaged Yelara in an unrestrained kiss that enveloped them both. Initially, surprise prevented Yelara from resisting, but once she regained sense, Yelara realized this was something Meer'esh needed. He had been broken by her loss, and with this he could be mended - become again the man she loved, and perhaps a free one.

If it was his decision to return to his master instead of remaining with her - even at his own peril - Yelara understood, for loyalty to his master had been ingrained within his very core through generations of ancestral servitude, and not even love might be strong enough to destroy that programming. Even as he half-carried her towards the hospital bed, already slipping her nightgown back from both shoulders, Yelara had chosen to give Meer'esh this night, for it might be the only one they would have. Only morning would determine if Meer'esh had managed to become unshackled from the fetters of his breeding, and if he had, there would be consequences to deal with. At least they could deal with them together.


"Time to Get Repairs Underway"
By: Marsar Tilimit
Mordous Krull

Location: Forests around New Plouton
Date: Vadris 16, 5 ABY

***

Marsar finished cleaning up as Mordous reenter the room and looked at her. She had to admit it almost seemed as though the guy cared about her...for more reasons than just here bounty. She sat down on the edge of the mat in her little cell and looked at him. "Ok so now what you find some way to manuver your ship off planet passed the Jau blockade inorder to collect your minor bounty" he didn't say anything just tossed a tool belt and a set of coveralls onto the ground infront of her. "What more work" she stated

"Just come here, I've got no gun on you today I just need you to help me" Marsar let out a unamused cough then looked at him

"And if I don"t" she asked

"Get that on and follow me outside now!" he ordered "That is unless you enjoy being locked up in this room" he stated moving towards the rooms exit. Mar quickly pulled the coveralls on over her clothes then picked up the tool belt and looked over it.

"What they heck does this guy want me to do this time." she asked herself as she strapped the tools on. Ever since the resistance started to cause problems with there "saviors" as the Jau called themselves she had found herself being locked in one of the rooms of Mordous' nice little Hawk 9 Freighter at night ad in the morning she was either still locked up in it or being used to repair somthing or other that had broken down on the ship. SHe didn't know why she wasn't dead yet, but had decided to avoid asking that, for fear he might try to shut her up for sure. As she approched the Hatch to the outside world she noted that the sun was defienly up...flitering throught the massive amounts of forest based cammoflague nets which seemed to capture the heat of the sun and keep the area around the ship warm. "So what is it now, the torpedo tube busted or is it the duel lasers this time" he shook his head.

"Neither...I need you to fix somthing else, somthing with a large amount of firepower' he stated as he approched a tarp at the edge of his cammonflague array, sitting on what appeared to be a makeship landing pad "Found this in a lake a few yards that way, belongs to a friend of yours If I am not mistaken" he stated pulling the tarp from a Mandel Moters Starviper class fighter. Marsar let out a startled yelp of shock and looked at it

"Wow I wish I could find a starviper in a lake..." she stated walking up to the cockpit of it and glancing inside, noting the busted canopy as well as some superficial damage but she was well taken care of. "Hmm Alot of this stuff is going to need to be replaced, especially the wiring" she stated. Mordus walked up to her, handing her a second tool belt

"Can you do it?" he asked. She shrugged then looked at him

"If I want to live...yeah I might be able to get some things working again" she stated "THe missial tubes are trashed, and the left gun needs some tweeking" she stated "I hope you got a lot of credits because It's going to take alot to fix this" she stated. He smiled as he pulled a second tarp away reviling a stack of Military grade equipement "well....thats a good start" Marsar notted duely impressed at the hardware she was staring at "How much did that put you back" Mordous clapped a hand on her shoulder

"Too much...don't make me think twice about the dead or alive cluase" he insisted "Now see what you can do"