"Unwelcome Surprises"
By: Adam Edwards - Smuggler/Scoundrel

Location: Hoth
Date: Lythe 19, 4 ABY

***

The laser drill burned through the ice and snow. The wall surrounding the beam turned red and melted into slush. After a few minutes, a man sized hole had been cut into the wall of the tunnel.

Captain Griff stepped through, followed by Adam, DB, and a group of miners. They found themselves on a ledge.

The cavern stretched down into the darkness. It seemed to vanish into oblivion. However, along the walls and ledges around the cavern, was the dull blue glow of the Lumni Spice. Lots of it.

"Get the droids in here," Adam ordered the miners. "Looks like we hit the jackpot."

Within a couple of minutes the majority of mining droids had been diverted to the cavern and began extracting the ore.

***

Hours later, the cargo holds of the freighter were almost full. The droids were loading the last of the spice Captain Griff contacted Adam on his communicator.

"Adam, I've lost contact with my men in the main cavern," Captain Griff said.

"On my way," Adam told him.

Adam and DB found Captain Griff and four of his men waiting outside the cavern.

"Something happened in there. We just lost contact, and about the same time, this whole cave shook," the captain reported.

Adam glanced down the tunnel.

"Let's go take a look," he said.

In teams of two, Griff's men moved down the tunnel into the cavern. Adam, DB, and Griff followed.

Inside, the guards were nowhere to be seen.

"What the hell," Captain Griff said, as he looked around.

Suddenly, the huge cavern started rumbling. The entire cave shook, and the group braced themselves against the walls.

Out of the darkness below, a huge...thing appeared. It reminded Adam of a space slug, just smaller. It rose up the ledge. The slug opened its mouth and lunged toward the group.

Adam dove away, but two of Griff's soldiers weren't so lucky. They disappeared into the mouth of the slug.

Adam took a shot at the slug, but the blaster bolt didn't seemed to phase it in the least. Captain Griff and his men weren't having a lot of luck either.

The creature swiped at the ledge again, but this time everyone got out of the way. Adam glanced above him, toward the ceiling of the cavern.

He looked back at DB. A moment of silence passed between them. DB nodded.

The droid raised his concussion rifle to the top of the cave. He fired. The cavern shook, and the top began to collapse. DB fired again. The entire cavern started to cave in.

Griff grabbed Adam from behind and started pulling him back through the tunnel. DB quickly followed.

The cavern fell in on itself, huge boulders of ice came crashing down on top of the creature. The huge ice slug vanished as tons of ice, snow, and rock destroyed the cavern.

Edwards looked back at the destroyed cavern. No one would be mining that area for quite a while.

***

An hour later, all the men and equipment had been collected from Hoth. The cargo holds full with the precious spice. Millions of credits worth was sitting down there.

The Lancer Frigates formed a protective barrier around the cargo hauler. The three crafts' hyperdrive engines flashed, and the three ships were well on their way back to Chimaeria.

---

"Electric Information"
By Gengis Zibel - NPC+
Boona Ven - NPC
Mr. Levitz - NPC

Location: Sybil Casino & Sybilla Hotel, at Yelldon District, New Plouton
Date: Lythe 19, 4 ABY

***

The sound of coins falling down on the metal of the slot machines was a constant sound in Sybil Casino. The sound of music being played by the orchestra and the people talking and shouting, saying that they won, made it a unique sound of that it was really a casino. The tables of Sabacc, Black Jack, Roulette, Territory Roulette and Lucky Lady was found on the main ground level.

Also on the main floor was the grand area of bets. Any sport that was played in the Tae'Remok system had bets in this casino, but the two grand areas of this level was a new space only for bets of Brutball and a private area that occupied eight stories high, three storages high, down including the ground level and other four for the audience, was the Sybilla Arena. This arena was where there were races of any kind of animals, but as most seen it was, nothing compared to the new game created by Gengis and it was his pride and joy as well of the Sybil Casino. The Chimaeria Gladiators of Sybilla known by the spectators for the CGS. The rules were simple: no weapons of any sort and the last man standing wins the round. The bettings were running like crazy after every round or between rounds, betting on the winner.

This particularly violent sport was the biggest income that The Sybil Casino made more money every night than any other bets or tables of the rest of the Casino, put together. On the top last levels of the casino were the private gambling rooms where the most richest and important people away from the crowed, where they played calmly and without the movement of the common people. Also in this last floors of the Casino existed personnel balconies for the rich and important people to watch the CGS, with a waiter droid to serve these important gamblers and another that registered their bets.

Gengis had a personnel window that overlooked the Sybilla Arena. We watched every fight from there while he solved any problems that might occur. Gengis saw the fight with cigar on his mouth. He smiled as he saw the Arena completely full, because it meant that profit entered to his Casino. Now this is the living. Making decision between making money or making a shit load of money, is my life. Not of an Admiral, I'm not military type, but Casino type...

"Mr. Zibel! There is a Mr. Boona Ven wants to see you." Mr. Levitz nodded.

"Its about time. Send him in quickly!"

"Yes, Mr. Zibel." Mr. Levitz disappeared and after a few seconds, a male twi'lek with green skin and his brain lekkus around his neck.

"Mr. Zibel, it is quite an honour to meet you." Boona smiled.

"And you, Mr. Ven. Please sit down." Gengis approached his chair that was behind the large desk. As he did this Boona sat on one of the two chairs that were in front of the desk.

"Now let's proceed with the business, shell we?" Gengis smiled.

"Yes..." He took out a datapad and put it above the desk. "Now I want the reward!"

"Yes of course." He looked to the datapad that was on the desk. "Is the information here?

"It is..." The male twi'lek saw Gengis to plug the datapad to his computer."What are you doing?"

"Well, Mr. Ven, I'm seeing the content of this datapad is correct and has everything and then you shall receive your reward." He paused. "Do you have problem with that?"

Boona Ven hesitated for few seconds... "No, I don't have a problem."

"Good!" Gengis said, putting down his cigar above his ashtray. He examined the content of the datapad very carefully and he then looked up towards Boona Ven and he smiled. "Very detailed information, Mr. Ven. I'm impressed, but however this is not exactly what my reward is worth."

"That is exactly worth your reward, Mr. Zibel. Information about the whereabouts of Tralesha Zibel and the Bounty Hunter Shaza Nightshade. The reward said any kind of information about these two individuals," Boona said with a smile, without moving in his chair.

"You're quite right, Mr. Ven. Quite right! The thing is I want more detail than this, the information in this datapad says that Tralesha Zibel is somewhere in the Jungle and Shaza Nightshade is somewhere near Tatooine, but it isn't accurate, for information like this even the most stupid of my men was able to get it. What I want is detailed information about Tralesha Zibel and Shaza Nightshade's whereabouts, not news from second hand Information that probably isn't even accurate... So, Mr. Ven, we don't have a deal!" Gengis smiled, he saw anger raising in Boona.

Boona got up and took a blaster, pointing it towards Gengis. "A deal is a deal, Mr. Zibel, so give me my money!"

Gengis looked towards Boona that was up in front of him. Gengis hid his left hand under his desk.

"Hands up now! Give me the chip with the money, NOW!" Boona screamed, trying to be scary, but Gengis was not impressed.

"Ok, Mr. Ven..." Gengis pushed a button before his left hand appeared under the desk. In less then a second a small compartment on the desk facing Boona, opened and from inside two pointed things stabbed Boona and electrocuted him. Boona felt his body becoming numb and he fell to the floor like hard rock. Gengis got up from his chair and pressed a button to call Mr. Levitz. Gengis looked over the numb body of Mr. Ven. He noticed that Boona was still conscious but he couldn't move.

"Mr. Ven, don't worry you will be numb for a few hours, but let me tell you something. I don't deal with people that try to cheat me, but above all I hate when that person that tries to cheat me, pulls out a blaster. Now you must suffer the consequences!" Gengis looked up to Mr. Levitz that approached him.

"Mr. Levitz. Mr. Ven decided to enter the CGS, can you take him downstairs and prepare him to be tomorrow's attraction." He paused as he walked near his desk and then turned around. "Oh, Mr. Levitz make sure that his death is an accidental one, because we don't want the Droid Cops to enter my Casino."

"Of course, Mr. Zibel as you wish. Oh... Who will be the lucky bastard to deal with Mr. Ven?" Mr. Levitz said as two other security guards entered to help him.

"Oh... Let me see. Give him to the Angel Of Death, that would satisfy his wish to kill at least for a few weeks. Remind him that it must look like an accident or he returns to that stench prison facility in Gallor that I got him out from."

"Yes, Mr. Zibel." Mr. Levitz exited, followed by the guards that carried Mr. Ven. Thank you, Mr. Ven, for the information. With this I can hire someone that can provide me with more detailed info. That someone can use this pitiful excuse for information to get me a more detailed one.

---

"Within Reach"
By: Liam Zaneth
Shaza Nightshade [NPC+]
Va'Lesh Zaneth [NPC+]
Leshie Zaneth [NPC+]
Yara Zaneth [NPC+]

Location: Tatooine
Date: Lythe 19, 4 ABY

***

Liam Zaneth watched as the doctor worked. Through the Force he could feel the procedure, feel the life stirring. His heart beat quickly in his chest, anticipation over what loomed before him. Yelara was returning to him, that was the hope. His beloved, the woman who captured his soul, captured his heart, and brought him back from the darkness; she was returning to him. Through the Force, he nudged slightly, guiding. Come back, my beloved, he sent his thoughts, return to the life that was stolen from you.

The doctor had completed the tissue grafts hours ago - a delicate process, he had insisted. The necrotic flesh on her abdomen had to be excised and replaced, with the aid of his life-giving elixir. The fatal wound had been filled in with flesh and viscera. Only then, he had insisted, could he begin the rejuvenation process. The tubes shuttling the fluid into Yelara's lifeless body had been detached and the entry wounds tended to. The doctor hovered protectively over his specimen after that point, muttering unintelligibly all the while, and chuckling giddily at other times.

Shaza and Liam could only watch on, as he'd informed them the reanimation serum required time to revitalize the dead cells. Only when the serum had diffused fully into every blood vessel and again infused the cells with life could he attempt to start her heart. That would be the defining moment, and the proof of his true glory. He cackled, a jarring sound that caromed off the crumbling walls.

Outside, not even Yara was safe. She trembled against Va'Lesh. "It is not right," she whispered.

Va'Lesh put his arms around her. "It is what father wishes," he said. "How can we go against him? What can we do, Yara, that will make him see? What can we do that will make it better? How can father's wisdom be so false? Is it truly?"

"He has told us we mustn't kill unless there is no other choice," Yara told him. "Va'Lesh...he has killed. He only draws the darkness into himself, and I fear we will lose him."

"We do not know how he achieved that body, Yara," Va'Lesh said. "We only know he returned with it here. But, you are correct. Yet, he still doesn't seem of darkness. His actions...they are out of love. Love for her, that she may live again. It is selfish on one hand, but he wants to give her back to the others who loved her. He wants her to watch little Leshie grow up."

"And if she doesn't live?" Yara stepped in front of Va'Lesh and took both his hands. "He will go mad, I think, Va'Lesh. What do we do then?"

"We will address that if it does, in fact, happen," Va'Lesh said. "I find no guidance from the Force in this. If it fails, we will make the best of the situation to the best of our abilities."

"But...will we be able to do this alone? What about Leshie?" Yara sighed and sought Va'Lesh's embrace. She closed her eyes against the chilled wind swirling around them. "I have never felt this before, Va'Lesh...but I am afraid."

"I know, my dearest," Va'Lesh whispered. "We will make it together, Yara. We will protect Leshie. I do not know what more we will be able to do, my Yara. But soon we will know if we must act. I do not know if I can turn my back on father."

"And I will not turn my back on you, Va'Lesh." Yara gazed up at him, and leaned in to kiss his lips when Leshie emitted a terrifying screech. Yara gasped and jerked away as the child began kicking wildly. "He senses something," Yara whispered.

"Leshie," Va'Lesh whispered, then turned toward the building. "Mother?"

Yara's wide, brown eyes looked fearfully upon Va'Lesh. "We should stay here," she urged. "That is not a place for a baby."

Va'Lesh nodded. "No," he whispered, "it is not." He held the infant close, eyes closed tight. Please, let this be over soon.

***

The metal slab on legs for a table rattled as Yelara's body flopped violently atop it in a seizing fit. The Doctor was racing between computer terminal and instrument tray, checking readings, returning to swipe at a tool and utilize it on his precious creation. Her heart had been stimulated to beat easily enough, and the Doctor had foolishly indulged in a premature celebration without first ensuring the stability of her brain waves. They were erratic and had triggered paroxysms. He scrambled to equalize them.

Her head thrashed wildly, tossing about tendrils of raven hair as if they were serpents seeking escape from her scalp. The Doctor emitted a roar and flung aside his scanner to clutch at the fine, remaining threads of wiry hair atop his balding head. "She is fighting me!" He wailed and flew towards her thrashing form with hands folded in a pleading gesture. "Please...do not fight me!"

Liam hovered behind the doctor, careful to stay out of the man's way. He closed his eyes, and through the Force, reached out.

Yelara, he cried through the ether. Yelara, it's Liam.

There was only the echo of his own voice in the hollow expanse that was Yelara's mind. The Doctor frantically attempted procedure after procedure, relentlessly continuing his attempts to bestow life upon his specimen. The EM stabilizer hovered above her forehead and Yelara's body tensed, arching from the table. Her body remained in its craned pose as the Doctor persisted, but the faintest of tremors still shook her body.

Yelara, hear me, he called through the Force, seeking her spirit, her life force. It's Liam. Please, Yelara...I need you...Leshie needs you...Grandpa Orinth needs you...we need you in life.

The Doctor withdrew the device, allowing Yelara to relax onto the bed once more. The seizure had stopped, but so had her brain waves. "No, no, no," the Doctor fretted, scurrying to a wheeled device with two prongs extending from a brace suited to fit around a head. He activated it while pushing it behind Yelara; a jagged streak of electricity leapt between the two projections. "So close," he cursed. "This cannot be!" The arm bearing the brace lowered towards Yelara's head. "This may damage the brain tissue...but there is no other choice," he muttered, trying to convince himself of the action's propriety. "I must!"

Liam Zaneth's shoulders sagged and his head dropped toward his chest. "Let her go," he said, just loud enough for the doctor to hear. "She does not wish to return. She doesn't want to come back to us. It's time to...to let her go."

The Doctor's expression was agonized. "But we are almost there! We must not stop now!" The current neared Yelara's brow, prepared to spark life into her once more.

"If she does not wish to return to life," Liam said, "then it is wrong to force her back. Try one more time." He stepped closer to the doctor. "But if she resists the attempt, then it is over."

This reverted the doctor to an almost slavering fool, and without preamble he lowered the device fully. Yelara's body jerked, then stiffened as the currents bounded through every nerve ending. There was a brief glitch of a brain wave that fizzled out quickly enough. The Doctor raised the current, his twisted mouth forming a sickeningly gleeful smile. "You are mine," he whispered. "You will obey." Again he turned the notch. Yelara flinched.

Liam took another step forward. "Doctor," he said, his voice raising, "it is done. Her spirit does not wish to return to life. She will not come back. Turn off your machine."

His rotting teeth clenched as he poured his strength of will into the effort. The dial was raised one more notch, filling the air with the crackling hum of electricity.

Liam raised a hand and the machine stopped. "I said enough," he rasped. "And, I meant it. We are done. She is not returning."

The Doctor's single dead eye was turned onto Liam, projecting a dark hatred. With a scream that reverberated through the corridors, the doctor threw up his arms, then swung them downwards to toss aside his tray of equipment. There was a loud clatter as the cart skidded across the stone floor and metallic instruments bounced away. He rounded on Liam, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You did this, Jedi," he spat. "The gods do not approve of your powers.... Your very presence caused this!"

"It did not," Liam answered calmly. "Yelara did not wish to return to this life, therefore she resisted. In life, she could be stubborn and willful when she wanted. I am certain there is little difference now. Your efforts were remarkable, doctor. It is just that her will to not return was greater than your technology. You tried, and for that, I will compensate you. Now, if you don't mind, I will gather her up now. It is time for me and my family to leave."

The Doctor backed away quickly with arms held out to protect his creation. "You will not have her! There are other procedures I wish to try on her. She is still such a fine specimen."

Liam took another step forward. "Oh? I believe, Doctor, that you are mistaken. The procedure has failed, her spirit no longer wishes to return to this life. This is at an end, and she is coming with me." He shifted his stance enough to give the doctor a glimpse at the lightsaber within. "Do not force me to defend her, Doctor. You won't appreciate the results."

He chuckled with no trace of anxiety, just a hint of madness that could not be denied. "You Jedi do not frighten me," he told Liam in that distinctive, rolling accent. "I have the power to bring life. You cannot kill a god, Mr. Jedi." The fiendishly grinning doctor scurried around to the head of Yelara's examination table, producing a thin, pointed blade in his hand. The glistening instrument was pressed to Yelara's temple. "She is mine, Jedi. I will give her life yet!"

With a slight gesture, the instrument was propelled straight back away from Yelara and out of the doctor's hand. With a slightly larger gesture, the doctor followed the instrument. "You are finished, Doctor," Liam said as he approached the doctor, who was now pinned to the wall by unseen bindings. "I will not kill you, but I will not allow you near her again." He raised a hand to the doctor's scarred face, and with a slight touch, used the Force to propel the man into unconsciousness.

With the threat of the doctor removed, Liam turned back to Yel and sighed. Tears filled his eyes, but he blinked them away. "I'm sorry, my beloved."

A shrill squall erupted from behind them. In the doorway was Va'Lesh and Yara, the former holding a wriggling, unmanageable Leshie in his arms. Yara was pale as she looked upon the scene, instruments scattered across the floor, the mutilated cadaver Liam had procured lying upon a table with blood dripping from its edge; the doctor was slumped against a wall, though Yara detected life still within him, but she could not say the same about Yelara. Liam's emanating sorrow verified that much. "We could not soothe him," Yara managed weakly.

Liam held out his arms to Va'Lesh and took Leshie into them. He kissed the top of his son's hair, holding him close. "It's going to be alright, Leshie," he whispered. "It's time to go home now. It's time to go home." He looked between Va'Lesh and Yara. "We'll need to put Yelara's body back into the chamber for the trip home. We'll be going to Corellia. We may need to stop by Tae'Karada on the way to bring Orinth with us. It's time to go home. The doctor wasn't able to revive her. I had to render him unconscious because he didn't want to let go."

"What of the girl?" Yara asked, barely finding her voice.

Liam pulled a datapad off his belt. He tapped at it a couple times and handed it to Yara. On the face of the datapad was the face of the girl who lay on the table. On it was a long list of crimes, many from Tatooine, and more from other places around the Rim. "She wasn't a good person, as you can see from that list. I found that file in Mos Eisley. When I found her, she was breaking into a speeder repair shop. She wasn't a good person, and she would be dead by the end of the day in any case."

Yara regarded Liam in stunned disbelief, and thrust the datapad into his grasp. "You must not justify her death, Master. It is still murder."

Liam nodded. "We must leave, Yara," he said. "There will time for this later. For now, it is time to return home." As Va'Lesh returned Yelara's body to one of the tubes, Liam retrieved another tube for the girl's body.

Yara watched on with a hardened gaze, holding Leshie possessively. "He was wrong to do this," she told Shaza. "He must atone."

"I am certain he will," Shaza answered. "Now that she is gone and now that he must face what he's done, I'm certain he will, Yara. She was a very important part of his life; she is the one who brought him back from darkness. He felt that if there was a way to bring her back, to return her to the life that was cheated from her, that cheated Leshie of his mother, then he had to try. It is easy to take a self-righteous stance in this, but until you have lost someone the way he has, I don't believe you can truly judge him. If Va'Lesh died, was ripped from your life, and you had the chance to bring him back, would you turn your back on that? Face the rest of your life alone and empty?"

"I would not be alone," she replied without pause. "He would be with me through the Force. At least...that is what Liam Zaneth taught us. Now?" Yara sighed. "I do not know what to believe if my own master has shown us otherwise."

"I believe the thing that affected Liam in this that would fail to affect you is emotion," Shaza said. "Liam has extremely deep and passionate feelings for Yelara. For you, logic overrides feeling. You seem to refuse to allow yourself to feel, to touch on your passions and allow your heart to do its part. Perhaps if Va'Lesh were to die it wouldn't affect you because you deny yourself the feelings the rest of us feel. Liam's heart was shattered when he lost Yelara...and I doubt it will ever truly mend without her. And, I don't think it's something you'll ever be able to understand from a logical point of view because it's illogical. It's feeling, it's emotion, it's passion...it's everything that logic isn't." She put her hand on Yara's shoulder. "It's a very difficult gap to cross, that bit of understanding. It's impossible to understand that which defies understanding."

Yara cocked an eyebrow at Shaza. "I understand murder, Shaza Nightshade. That is simple enough, even for someone as ignorant as I." With Leshie in her arms, Yara moved off, leaving Shaza's hand to fall away.

"Impossible bitch," Shaza snarled, then turned back to help Liam.

Va'Lesh had returned Yelara's body to the stasis chamber and had witnessed the exchange between Yara and Shaza. With his work done, he approached her. He slipped his arms around her waist and held her in silence for a moment. "If you wish to, Yara, we can leave. Make our own way, and get away from father."

She shook her head decisively. "He needs us now, Va'Lesh. If we leave him, he could succumb to his grief. It would not be right."

"Good," Va'Lesh answered. "I would not feel right leaving father. He does need us, and he needs Leshie. What he did, it was wrong...but...but I can understand why he did it. It doesn't make it right, but I can understand. Let's take mother to the speeder. I want to go home now."

They made their subdued procession through the dank, darkened corridors, pushing both tubes. Yara maintained a great distance from them and was the first to emerge from the dwelling into the desert. It was even colder outside. She held Leshie closer to fend off the chill; he burrowed his head under Yara's arm, but only to peer across the way at Yelara's tube. He whimpered and reached out a chubby hand. "Do not worry, Leshie," Yara whispered. "She is not gone. She will never be."

***

The silence on the return to the ship was almost unbearable, but they made the return without incident. The speeder slipped easily into the cargo bay, and the tubes were unloaded and strapped into place. Shaza entered the ship and began to warm up the drives while Liam closed the hatches. Va'Lesh and Yara were speaking quietly near the exit to the bay while Liam finished up, and between them Leshie was grasping his chubby hands outward and kicking his feet, the noise of his shrill, almost-desperate cries rising. Liam glanced over and started toward them.

"Oh, my little man," Liam said as he drew closer and took his son into his arms. "It's alright, Leshie. She'll always be with us." He touched a hand over the baby's heart. "In here. She'll always be here." He kissed the top of Leshie's head and held him close. "I tried to bring her back for you, for us. I tried. But she'll be with us, always."

"Where will we deposit the girl?" Yara asked, intruding upon the moment.

"We will give her a burial on Corellia," Liam said without a look at Yara. Then, still holding Leshie, he entered the main area of the ship, leaving Va'Lesh and Yara alone in the hold.

Yara watched her master's retreating back, then sighed and started off as well. "I must meditate."

Without a word, Va'Lesh entered the ship, leaving the bay, and returned to his quarters. He couldn't help feeling that he was caught in the middle. He'd need to do some meditation as well, but he'd take care of that later. For now, he needed to grieve.

---