"Regression, Part 1"
By: Koran Darr
Laedra Vorrel
Liam Zaneth
Protocol Droid [NPC]

Location: Yesrin Central Library - Yesrin, New Plouton
Date: Niothe 20, 4 ABY

***

"Koran! Koran Darr!" Laedra barely managed to whisper. She rushed over to the table he was hunched over and slid a datapad in front of him, pushing the one he was poring over out of the way. "That symbol... It looks similar to one of the glyphs we've seen on the walls, doesn't it?"

She pulled out the vacant chair beside him, creating a loud scraping sound that echoed in the otherwise deadly silence of the library. The female librarian making her rounds pressed a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture and narrowed her eyes at Laedra, who bowed apologetically and made a face at Koran as she settled into the chair. "They are far more strict here than my former Jedi Master ever was," Laedra commented.

Koran glanced at the woman as she walked away, casting a vicious scowl over her shoulder. "I don't think she likes people who experience ranges of emotions outside of complete neutrality. I sensed your excitement from over here, and I was watching her as it happened. As your excitement grew, her frown deepened. It was amusing to see."

Laedra laughed. "Well, I had a right to be excited. Look at that glyph. Although its pattern is slightly varied, it's almost the same as that symbol that keeps popping up. You know, the one we think is the word for 'temple.' "

Koran examined the information she had before her and nodded. "Yes," he said. "It most definitely is similar. Perhaps a variation on the theme. The texts you've been searching through, have you found any other symbols that are familiar? We may want to focus on other languages with similar character sets to that one if that's so."

"Well, I haven't made such an in depth study of this particular language yet. The symbol merely flashed by the screen and I recognized it immediately," Laedra replied. "We can download the information from this datapad and have the computer do a comparison for us later. For now, I will continue collecting texts on languages which use hieroglyphics as a writing system. I would like to focus on historical documents written about Tae'Karada, however. We may find more clues that way."

The sound of boots approaching from behind brought Koran's attention around to find Liam approaching. "These texts here have pictures," he said, and quickly lowered his voice in response to the librarian's glare. "Would you believe they didn't wear any clothes back then?" He set the large tome on the desk for Laedra and Koran. "The pictures aside, I thought the text at the bottom looked probable."

Laedra rotated the book towards her and scanned the passage. "Well, it would appear they did have some belief system. A pantheon of gods with Draedyn at the top. If the Temple is perhaps dedicated to a god or gods, some of the glyphs on the walls may represent their names. Thank you, Liam," Laedra said as she smiled at him. "I believe this book may be helpful." The furtive look they exchanged was enough to make her blush. She quickly refocused on the tome and flipped through the next few pages.

Liam smiled and quickly turned away. "I'm going to head back over, and put those other books I had out away. I wouldn't want to get on this librarian's bad side. Lightsaber or no, I think she might be able to beat me in a straight fight."

"We will need to acquire copies of all these texts," Koran said before Liam could leave. "If you find any others over there with promise, make sure to see about getting them duplicated to a datapad."

"And remember, we're more interested in the actual text, not the pretty pictures, Liam," Laedra added sweetly.

Liam grinned. "But they are pretty pictures," he said, and then sauntered away.

Koran watched Laedra for a moment, then shook his head and returned his attention to the information in front of him. "I don't think I'd realized what a large project this was until I found myself surrounded by all these books."

"It is a repository of every possible aspect of Tae'Karadan society, even down to the equadi. Did you know I came across a book detailing the precise stitches used to create the garment? There is even a ritual that was once performed to bless the fabric used." Laedra chuckled and shook her head. "I only hope they keep just as scrupulous records about the planet's language and history."

"We can hope," Koran said. "Though, based on this, it appears that recordkeeping has been a goal for a very long time. We just need to hope that that time extends back into the early days of the temple. We will need to speak to the librarian about searching through some of the older archives. I do not believe what we see here is all they have. Most libraries will also keep a collection of rare and valuable books back where special permission is required to view them."

"Depending on the age of the Temple, we may actually have more luck with the older texts. My only fear is that it was built before the planet's occupation, when historical documents may not even have been a priority," Laedra said. "If so, the Temple's purpose may be lost with the ancient Karadan's, and the key to deciphering the glyphs with them."

"Someone had to have taken an interest in the ancient architecture after the occupation, and there has to be something that we can find that will unravel some of the current dark areas. With the Force, there are no true mysteries, just areas where the light has not yet shone. We will find our answers, Laedra Vorrel; the Force is with us."

Laedra smiled almost reverently at Koran and nodded her head slowly. "When you speak like that, Koran, I almost believe the Force is capable of anything." She shifted closer to Koran to share the tome she was glossing through, noting that there certainly were many pictures of unclothed subjects within it. She wondered then whether Liam would have bothered to pick up the book at all if it had contained merely text without the drawings. Laedra thought that perhaps a small talk with him when they were alone tonight would be in order to clarify the issue. "Anything else that catches your interest? Or shall we move on."

"No," he said. "Though, the book does look like it may bear further inspection. I do not believe it will have clues to the writing on the wall, at least, not the deciphering of those glyphs. There may be important history, and reading through it may give us more insight that will aid in translation. For now though, I think deciphering is our foremost task."

"I agree." Laedra slammed closed the book, which earned her a hissing 'shh' from the librarian. She grimaced and carefully, quietly pushed back her chair. "I believe looking for rarer texts is a good idea. Would you care to accompany me or would you prefer to wait for Liam's next find?"

Remembering the pictures Liam brought to them, Koran laughed. "I believe I will accompany you," he said. "I think it'll be better with two of us looking through those books anyway."

"And two against that one librarian, I believe would even things up."

Laedra started with Koran for the isolated section of the library bearing the historical reference material and more antiquated literature. They had received reluctant permission from the librarian, who watched them with a wary eye as they started away.

Thinking it better to discuss the matter away from the Temple, and far from eavesdroppers, Laedra finally broached the subject of Dani's insubordination after a long mental deliberation. "Koran, I know you have done well in training Dani...but there is something I wish to bring to your attention, if I may."

"Very well," Koran said. "I am open to whatever you may have to say. What is it that concerns you?"

"Her frankness and lack of respect towards her elders, among other things." Laedra sighed, knowing her confession to Koran might just have put her relationship with Liam into jeopardy, especially if Dani decided to repay Laedra's betrayal by admitting her suspicions to Koran. "She was spying on me the other day," Laedra continued. "I was in my room, and she and Nieme were spying on me. I could scarcely believe it, Koran. And as I confronted her, she made these insulting accusations and threatened me..." Laedra sighed and shook her head. "Forgive me, Koran. I do not mean to get Dani into trouble. I just thought you deserved to know, as her Master."

Koran nodded slowly. "Did you ask her why she had decided to spy upon you?"

Laedra chewed her lip, deciding between a lie or the truth - her version of it, altered to her benefit. She couldn't seem to decide which was worse, but both seemed just as wrong. "She wanted to...discover if Liam was in my room...for reasons I'm certain you can infer."

Koran nodded. "I understand," he said. "This places the situation into a very difficult spot. If I pursue this with Dani, then she brings her suspicions out, and if it goes too far, then the Council will be required to investigate both sides of the problem. What do you believe I should do in this matter, Laedra?"

"I cannot say, Koran. Liam has tried so hard to rebuild his reputation, to assert himself as a true Jedi. If you confront Dani, her suspicions may destroy everything Liam has worked for. As for me... The Masters are already uncertain of my abilities. I can feel it. It's like I'm always being tested by them one way or the other. What little confidence they have in me could diminish further or even disappear if Dani speaks." Laedra closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "I don't know what to do, Koran."

"Laedra," Koran said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder, "do you feel tested in my presence? Do you feel that I have doubts about your skills or your ability with the Force? I am one of the Masters, and I have no doubts about you or your abilities. I sense that you have been without the guidance of a master for awhile, and aren't quite certain which direction to move. There is nothing wrong with that. The actions of the Emperor have forced many of the surviving Jedi into desperate situations, and they must now seek to find themselves once more. They must look at their past, decide their future and move forward. You were released from your master into an intolerant and dangerous universe. Potential death or worse could have awaited you at any turn. Additionally, I sense that you feel you were released too early. Yet, you are here, at the Temple. And, I have confidence in you, Laedra Vorrel."

That alone infused Laedra with a belief in herself and cleared the confusion and doubt in her mind. She gazed up at Koran and placed her hand upon his. "Thank you, Koran. That means everything to me." She smiled sheepishly and looked away again, as well as stepping slightly forward to break the physical contact between them. "As for the Dani issue, I do not think we should let such disrespect and insolence go unpunished. No matter what her suspicions, spying and then challenging an elder in rank is a serious offense. I am not suggesting you bring her in front of the entire Council, but I do recommend that, as her Master, you punish her."

"If I punish her, I will have to reveal the reasons for the punishment. It would be unfair to punish her and not tell her why she is being punished. And, it would be wrong to lie to her about the reasons. And, regardless of whether it goes before the Council, I would be required to look into any accusations she may level. We have agreed to allow hers and Nieme's relationship for now. You and Liam have received no such dispensation. I can inform her that you have spoken to me of her disrespect and that she will be required to meditate for an additional period of time, but that is as far as 'punishment' should be carried out, I believe. However, if you insist, I will punish her."

Laedra stopped abruptly, waiting a moment for Koran to realize it and join her before inquiring, "Why would Liam and I require dispensation for something we are not even engaged in?" She sighed sharply and quickly added, "Meditation is sufficient in this case. I had nothing more severe than that in mind for Dani. She has been a Padawan for not even a month and it is not our place to fault her for things she has no control over as of yet." Laedra bowed to Koran, gesturing her intention to depart and did just that towards the rare books they sought.

Koran frowned after Laedra for a moment, watching her depart for several heartbeats before sighing and following after. He could sense her evasion and the beginnings of the lie in her words, and it saddened him that she would choose to play false with him. He had given her the opening, and she had essentially chosen to ignore his overture. He caught up to her easily, and clasped his hands behind his back. Perhaps she needed time.

Laedra stopped in the doorway of the room and sighed at the shelves upon shelves of tomes. "I believe we will need to devise a strategy. There is no possible way to get through these all." She felt Koran come up beside her and shifted uncomfortably away from him.

"My suggestion would be to first make a list of the books that are likely to contain the information we seek," Koran said. "Then, once our selection is narrowed down, we can further limit our search by subject matter. Also, if we truly find ourselves desperate, there is always the option of a protocol droid."

"What happened to your notion that work is more fulfilling when done by your own hand?" Laedra teased. "But, if we must abandon that work ethic to come to the bottom of this mystery, then we will have no other choice." She nodded to Koran as she moved further into the room, gazing up at the vast shelves of books. "We are going to be here for some time, I believe."

"When we reach the point of desperation," Koran said with a smile as he approached the shelf, "there will be little fulfillment in the work. And, it is a last resort." He let his gaze sweep all the way down the row. "We may want to reserve a room here in the city tonight, and return to the Temple tomorrow."

"That might be a good idea. This way, we can gather as much information as we can in this one trip and save ourselves the trouble of having to return frequently. Although," Laedra said with a fond smile, "I wouldn't mind it. I rather enjoy being here. Even the smell of the books is exciting to me."

Koran laughed softly. "Just looking at this collection, I'd say you're going to be smelling them for quite awhile. Why don't you start going through that end, and I'll start here? We'll collect the likely books in the centre, and start going through them together."

"Alright. So...see you in an hour, Koran." Laedra laughed and waved to Koran as she moved down the aisle of books. In the labyrinth of shelves, she only hoped she didn't get lost and was able to find her way back.

***

Laedra's legs had gone numb some time ago, but with the floor around her covered completely in books, it left no room for her to stretch them out and rub some life back into them. She did, however, have plenty of room to stretch out her arms and crack her stiffened back. She had lost all sense of time while intensively studying the books she and Koran had collected. Liam had yet to return from his sojourn through the library, but she had little doubt that he would find research of this kind anything other than tedious. If he was content with his picture books, then she had no problems with that.

"Anything yet, Koran?" she said, but barely as a yawn forced open her mouth and made further comprehensible speech impossible.

Koran opened his eyes. "I think I have found something probable," he said. "This book here--" He realized the book had closed, and quickly opened it to the page he had been on previously. "Several of the symbols are familiar. I think I've seen this one here near that starburst pattern on the far wall."

Laedra blinked to clear the fog weariness had placed over her eyes. She shifted towards to Koran and brought her face closer to the page. The inside of her lip was almost chewed raw from all the fierce concentration she had been absorbed in over the past hour, and now, as she studied the glyph intently, she could swear she tasted blood.

Laedra gasped suddenly and jerked upright as her Jedi-enhanced recall ability finally brought the glyph into recognition. She pulled out the datapad secured in her belt and fumbled with it in her excitement. Finally, she set it down on the page opposite to the one they were focusing on and called up the appropriate file. She scanned through each frame of recordings she'd made at the Temple until she came to the one that had gotten her so worked up to begin with. She zoomed in on the section of wall bearing the sunburst pattern Koran spoke of and jabbed her finger at the screen of the datapad. "There! And there!" Laedra continued going through various frames of the recording, each time pointing out the glyph Koran had discovered in the text. "Are you seeing the pattern?"

"I am," Koran said with a wide smile. "I think we may be on to something here. There's also a translation of this work. The back sides of the pages, contain the translated characters. We just took a tremendous leap forward, Laedra."

None of Laedra's Jedi training could keep her from expressing her joy. With a squeal, she threw her arms around Koran's neck and nearly tackled him to the floor with the enthusiasm of her embrace. She hiccupped suddenly, realizing the inaptness of her actions and quickly pulled away with cheeks flushed and an awkward laugh. "Uh... We should um...make a copy of this text and...you know...study it more in depth. I think."

Koran laughed and resettled his robes after being nearly pinned to the floor with a pile of books below and Laedra above. "We should be able to get a good copy of this to take back with us." He looked around and then laughed. "Let's go make that copy now, and then I think we should go see about getting rooms for the night."

"Agreed." Laedra retrieved the datapad and her cloak, then hastily rose. "I will find Liam and see about credits for the transaction." She bowed to Master Darr and gratefully fled to hide her embarrassment.

Koran watched and then began gathering books.

When Laedra found Liam, he was poring through one in a large stack of books. Next to him, a white-enamelled protocol droid sat uncomfortably in a chair.

"Really, Master Liam Zaneth, I do not believe you will find the glyphs you seek in this collection of books. They have all been translated and no longer contain the language you are attempting to decipher."

Liam shook his head. "Tee, I'm not looking for translations here. I'm just reading history. If I understand the pre-history, I can have a better understanding of what might be contained in the glyphs. Or at least, I'll be able to provide a historical basis to back up Koran and Laedra's findings."

"Oh," the droid said. "I see. Well, that does make sense then."

Liam grinned and looked up at Laedra. "I can tell that you two have found something in there." He stood up to greet her.

"We believe it may be an important discovery, but we will need to review the text further," Laedra replied. "Koran is making a copy as we speak, so I came to retrieve you. He suggests we rent a hotel room for this evening and return to the Temple in the morning."

Liam nodded, then lowered his voice. "Never expected to share a hotel room with you," he said. "I imagine the guy behind the desk over at the Windsor would love to see that."

"Well, you'll be sharing the room with Koran as well, Liam." Laedra smiled and added, "But if he's a heavy sleeper..." She let the thought hang in the air and coyly turned on her heel and strolled off.

Liam laughed and turned to the droid who was righting himself at the table. "I think we're going to be calling it a night. We're not done, so I imagine we'll be back tomorrow."

"Oh, then I look forward to seeing you then, Master Liam Zaneth."

With that, Liam started gathering his books to put things back the way they were when he arrived.

---

"Regression, Part 2"
By: Koran Darr
Laedra Vorrel
Liam Zaneth

Location: The Ranula Hotel - Yesrin, New Plouton
Date: Niothe 20, 4 ABY

***

"Liam Zaneth, you are incorrigible, you know that?" Laedra surveyed the single bed once again, then turned to him and frowned. "The bed is big enough for you both, so stop whining."

"The bed may be plenty large," Liam said, "but I'm a married man." He glanced between Laedra and Koran as they tried to decipher the meaning of his statement. "I shouldn't be sharing a bed with an unmarried man. Besides, I have a wife, if I'm sleeping in the bed with someone else, I may forget that it's not my wife, and then we have all sorts of trouble."

"Well...would you prefer it if you had my room all to yourself, and Koran and I share this one?" She smiled for Liam. "Hmm?"

"A whole bed to myself? That's not such a bad idea."

Laedra stuck out her tongue at Liam, then turned to Koran and slapped her hands together. "Well! I guess it's you and I tonight, Master Koran Darr. Left side or right?"

Koran glanced between Liam and Laedra, and then nodded. "If you'll excuse me, I need to clean my teeth. It feels like I've been chewing on dust all day." He turned away, hiding the smile as he did. "And, I'll take the left."

Liam glanced at Laedra and almost laughed. "Oh this should be a very interesting night indeed."

"Well, if you weren't such a baby about things, you could be sleeping with the hunky Jedi Master." Laedra quickly glanced over her shoulder to ensure Koran was within the refresher, then promptly threw her arms around Liam and kissed him deeply. "I can sneak out to your room later," she whispered. "We can spend some time together."

"I think I'd like that very much," he said. "I really like the idea of a secret rendezvous. Sneaking off together...so scandalous." He pulled her farther away from the refresher, and kissed Laedra again, deeply and passionately. They'd been unable to express their feelings for each other all day, but Liam reminded himself to take care because they didn't want to get carried away, lose track of time, and have Koran Darr walk out and find them together.

"I think you like bold women, Liam Zaneth. I've tried to become more tame compared to my youthful years, but you've brought these wild urges out of me again." She stumbled with Liam towards the bed and forgot where they were and who was in the refresher as she began undoing his tunic. "One night without you is too much... Promise to leave your door open tonight." She kissed him again.

"I promise," he said. "I'll leave it open, and I'll be ready for you. I couldn't do one night without you. It's too much." He let his hands slip beneath her robes, caressing his way to the fasteners holding her tunic closed.

"Oh gods...I hope Koran Darr falls to sleep quickly. I won't be able to hold out for long." She sat Liam onto the bed and straddled his legs as she slipped onto his lap. A moan came from somewhere, her own lips or Liam's, though she wasn't sure. She did know, however, that Liam's hands were now covering her breasts through the thin top she wore beneath and her hands were sliding their way into his pants. "We can't do this here," she breathed, then pressed her lips firmly to his.

Liam slipped his arms around her and pulled her tight against his chest while they seemingly devoured each other with kisses. He could feel her heat mingling with his, and he too hoped that the search through the books had tired out Koran. It took great restraint not to reach down and free himself from his pants, especially with the slight gyrations of Laedra against his groin. He knew he was moaning and couldn't stop.

"We have to stop," she protested feebly. "This is very bad." She found the ground again with her feet and lifted herself from Liam, but still her lips locked with his as their tongues continued to mingle. If they were radiating as much passion as she felt right now, Koran would no doubt sense what they were up to. At the moment, Laedra scarcely cared.

Liam allowed himself another moment for the kiss, and then rolled back away. He hated the feeling of losing her touch, but he knew they needed it. He was breathing heavy, and it was still difficult to concentrate, but his senses were slowly returning.

As Liam started sitting up again, the refresher door opened, and Koran stepped back out into the room. He looked at Liam and Laedra and laughed softly. "They have really small soaps in there," he said with a grin.

Laedra chuckled uncomfortably and glanced at Liam. His robes were wrinkled and partially undone, and too nervous to look down at her own, Laedra imagined hers were no better off. "Well...Liam, why don't you go to your room and see if your soaps are any larger."

Liam looked startled for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes. Soap. I'll go." He glanced between them and quickly yawned. "Oh, and I'm tired too. I should go sleep. We'll compare soaps in the morning." With that he hurried toward the door, stopping momentarily to offer a bow to both. "Good night."

"Good night, Liam." Laedra bowed and looked up at Liam as she shot him a sly grin. "We'll see you in the morning."

"In the morning," Liam repeated. "Sleep well."

Koran Darr hid his smile well, but he offered a bow to Liam and then moved to sit on the bed. "Good night, Liam. If you require anything, don't hesitate to solve the matter yourself."

Liam laughed, and then was out the door.

"I'll freshen up for bed," Laedra announced. She moved towards the refresher, slipping off her cloak as she did. She draped it across the sole chair in the room, located beside the refresher door. As quickly as she entered, Laedra poked her head through the doorway and said, "Catch," before tossing Koran her datapad. "That should be enough to pass the time during my absence." She grinned and once again disappeared into the refresher.

Koran caught the datapad, and moved to sit on the bed. "If I'm too engrossed, just nudge me when you come back out."

Laedra went through as much of her routine as she could, considering many of her toiletries were at the Temple. She picked up the seashell shaped soap from the tray and laughed. Koran Darr was right. They were small. "Koran," Laedra called out as she worked the soap into a lather. "Where were you born?"

"I was born on a planet called Tagheza'Sa," Koran said. "It's a small word, mid-rim. There's really not much there, and becoming a Jedi was a good thing for me."

No sound came from the refresher accept for that of the gentle stream of water running from the tap and the occasional splash as Laedra threw the cool liquid onto her face to wash away the soap. "I believe my Master mentioned that planet in my studies," she replied finally after patting down her skin. "Um... Let's see... Dro'lj ecku niulct?"

Koran laughed. "Very nice," he said. "And, yes, I am feeling very well. K'i nuit?"

"I am as well. Thank you for asking." Laedra exited the refresher laughing and with her hands at the back of her head, working to free her wrapped up hair. "Master Ina taught me much. I just didn't realize I had actually retained most of it." She let her straight brown hair fall to drape her shoulders, made almost bare except for the straps of the tank top that still remained after the removal of her tunic. "I miss learning," she went on as she moved towards the bed. "It's so invigorating somehow and fulfilling."

"There is always more to be learned," Koran said. "And, I'm certain at the Temple, there is still much you can learn that you never dreamed of before. I know, I'm a Jedi Master, and I'm still learning." He smiled. "It's a good feeling."

Laedra stopped at the foot of the bed and narrowed her eyes playfully at Koran. "You're on my side." She smiled to indicate her jest then moved to the left side of the bed and pulled back the sheets. "Do you perform any meditation exercises before bed? I often do, but I think I would rather spend my time talking with you this evening, Koran."

"Most times I do," he said as he shifted to allow her more room on the bed. "But, I am feeling relaxed and at peace now, so I believe I can forgo the ritual tonight. So, where were you born, Laedra?"

Laedra propped her pillow on the headboard, then slipped under the blanket. "Muunilinst," she replied, and said no more about her homeworld, knowing doing so could swiftly shift the conversation towards her youth. She sat back against her pillow and smoothed out the unevenness of the blanket idly, thinking of a topic to steer the discussion elsewhere. "The weather was--" She laughed dryly and shook her head.

"You don't like talking about your early life, do you?" Koran asked. "I won't pressure you unless you wish to be pressured."

"It's alright," Laedra assured him, quite unconvincingly. "All Jedi had otherwise unconventional childhoods. I guess I'm just far more sensitive about mine than others are."

"Do you want to talk about any of it?" Koran asked. "I didn't have much of a childhood. I basically went straight from learning to walk to Jedi Master. Though, there were a few steps along the way."

"You're lucky," Laedra said quietly. "You can imagine in your mind that your parents loved you because you have no proof of otherwise. You didn't know them, so you have nothing to indicate they felt anything other than immense joy and unwavering love for you." She looked sideways at Koran and nodded her head. "You really are lucky that way."

"And, I have nothing to indicate that they felt the exact opposite," Koran said. "For all I know, they could have tried to bargain with the Jedi. Credits for their son. Or, a million other possible scenarios. You cannot dwell on those sorts of things. Down that path lays the dark side."

Laedra repressed a sharp sigh and looked away from Koran to hide her grimace of irritation. It was all the Jedi Masters seemed to say, and mostly to her. There was no room for any thoughts beyond those of the Jedi Code and the Order, it appeared. "Yes, Master Koran Darr," she muttered.

Koran sighed and then shook his head. "You fall into the roll of scolded Padawan very well, you know," he said. "You harbour dark thoughts, Laedra. They will either drive you to the dark side or madness. You proclaim my luck at being able to hold the illusion that my parents may have loved me dearly. To me, this says that the opposite was true for you. You have no illusions about your family, and they did not feel immense joy and unwavering love toward you. The manner in which you say this implies that those feelings wear you down."

"Even when I was a child, I could sense things through the Force, but I didn't need the Force to translate for me the indifference in my father's eyes when he looked at me." Laedra folded her arms around herself and rolled her head back against the headboard to stare up at the ceiling. "I realize the dark side is drawn to negative emotions, but it is difficult to banish from one's mind the memories that trigger such emotions, especially when they are imprinted so deeply in your brain."

Koran sat up to more fully regard Laedra. "This revelation concerns me," he said. "You have been charged with teaching a student in the use of the Force; and during this stage of Kael's development, the temptations of the dark side are strongest. I can sense your irritation, and your anger. This is not good, Laedra. This is not good at all."

Laedra closed her eyes to gather her calm, but only a very little came to her aid. "This is what I get for confiding in you," she said quietly. She sighed and pushed back her covers before rising from the bed. She turned to face Koran, but the look of concern and disapproval on his face made her quickly rush towards the chair to retrieve her cloak. "When it comes to training Kael, I am capable of tempering my emotions, Master Darr," she said to him. "It is the constant doubt I receive from the Jedi Masters - including yourself - that concerns me."

Koran gracefully stood from the bed, thankfully still fully clothed. "Talking the way you are now," Koran said, "perhaps there is valid justification for doubt. And, you are wrong about constant doubt, Laedra. Until a moment ago, I never sensed that you harboured so much self-doubt or held in so much negative feeling. I want to believe you are fully deserving of being a Jedi Knight."

Laedra sucked in a deep breath, preparing to spout a scathing remark at Koran, but she bit it back and took out her aggression by punching her arms into the sleeves of her cloak. She faced him now, watching him from across the bed and saying nothing. Who was he to doubt her abilities and her right to be a Jedi Knight? He understood nothing of heartache and despair, and hadn't been challenged the way such powerful emotions could challenge one's discipline. He knew nothing. "Good night, Koran Darr," was all she said before she made a hasty bee-line for the door.

Koran sighed, but did not hinder Laedra's egress. Instead, he followed after her slowly. He wondered if she realized she was behaving just as she'd described Dani behaving. He wondered if she would so quickly call for her own punishment knowing the disrespect she was showing him.

Laedra had taken two steps out into the hallway before her nerves snapped and she whirled around to confront Koran. "What? What?! Am I some oddity to you? Am I so strange to you that you have to scrutinize and observe me like a specimen? The old Order is dead!" she spat. "This--" she indicated herself, then gestured to the entire area surrounding them "--is what we've become, what the Jedi have become. We feel, Koran Darr, and we suffer. In your time, the Jedi may have acted differently, but this is what you have to work with now so accept it and stop judging me!"

Koran nodded, but kept any trace of emotion from his face. Inside, he could feel sadness and regret. He would need to meditate further on this, but didn't feel that any new information would surface through the Force. He pushed the emotions away, collecting his thoughts as he did. "I no longer need to observe you," he said. "I have all the information I require to approach the Council. For now, I will assist Kael with his training, but perhaps when Alisson returns she can begin taking over in his teachings. I am sorry it has come to this, but you leave us little choice. I do regret the necessity of stripping you of your title and expelling you from the Jedi Order. May the Force be with you, Laedra Vorrel." With that, he turned around and started back toward his room.

Laedra was left trembling in the hallway as the blood drained from her face and her body went suddenly cold. With an anguished cry, Laedra lunged forward and gripped Koran's arm with both her hands. She pulled him back and searched his face frantically for any sign of insincerity or jest. Finding none, she moved her hands to his chest and gripped the fabric of his cloak desperately. "Please," she whispered frantically. "Oh, please, Koran... I'll do anything. You have to help me. You have to help me be better. Don't do this to me. You don't understand. You don't understand what it's been like for me."

Her legs weakened beneath her weight and she felt herself sliding to the ground in supplication to Koran. "I need help," she sobbed. "Please help me." Her body folded compactly, making her seem small, so very small and fragile as she wept at his feet, still pleading with him for mercy and aid. Without the Jedi Order, she was nothing, and the thought of leaving it scared her beyond anything else in the universe.

Koran reached down and held his hands out to her. "You will be stripped of your rank," he said softly. "I do not know if there is any precedent for this, but this is how it shall be. I will take you on as my Padawan Learner. I will complete your training, and you will be a Jedi Knight again when I and the Jedi Council have deemed you worthy. Is this acceptable to you?"

Laedra looked up at Koran through bleary eyes and choked back a sob. "A Padawan? But...I've already taken my Trials. I passed them. I passed...."

"You may have taken the Trials and passed, but you were not ready for them. You lack many of the qualities of a fully trained Jedi. You are disrespectful and rebellious. You adhere to those rules which you find acceptable, and ignore those you don't. You follow those parts of the Jedi Code you like, and you ignore the rest. You are reckless and your behaviour is a danger to yourself and those around you. You have two choices, Laedra; accept my offer and become my Padawan; or be expelled from the Jedi altogether."

His words were harsh and unforgiving, yet they hit her so deeply because she knew they were true. She had always harboured doubts about her validity as a Jedi Knight, and her actions moments ago, as well as Koran's words verified them. She was not fit to serve the Jedi Order, not in the capacity of a Knight. Kael had more focus and discipline than she, which was a startling, sobering realization.

If she lost the Jedi Order, she lost Liam as well, and her purpose. Without it, she was nothing but a frightened child who would always wonder what she had done to deserve her parents' disdain. Without the teachings of the Order to keep her composed and her emotions under check, she would surely go mad.

The decision became suddenly all too clear. She placed her hands into Koran's and gripped them as if they were a lifeline pulling her from a suffocating pool of dark water. Getting to her feet proved a struggle, but once she had regained her footing, she pressed her forehead to Koran's chest and wept softly. "I will be your Padawan," she whispered. "I will do what you ask of me, Master Darr. Anything you ask of me."

"Good," Koran said with a smile. "The first thing I ask of you is that you become a fine Jedi, and an example to all Jedi. The second, is that we should return to our room and get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Laedra nodded, then gazed up at Koran imploringly. "Please...I do not wish for the students or anyone other than the Masters to know of this. I have already been disgraced, Master Darr; I do not wish to be made into an example for the other Padawans to further my shame."

"For now," Koran said, "we will say nothing to the others, except for Quinlan and Kal'Aran. However, the silence is dependent on how your training progresses. However, I am confident that nothing will need to be said." He paused for a moment, and then lead the way back toward their room, making certain she kept pace. "I heard of the test Quin administered to you. You are at a delicate stage, and I would prefer that neither of the other masters test you further. I will speak with them, but if they approach you without my knowledge, I would like for you to tell me. And, no more of that deathtrap Quinlan's fallen in love with. He can chop his own limbs from his body, but no one else's."

As much as Laedra was not in the mood to laugh, she did at any rate and hurried to keep up with Koran's long strides. "I had no idea what I was getting myself into until I saw that sickle swinging towards me." As they neared the bed, Laedra placed a hand on Koran's forearm and gently pulled him back. "Master... I would like to tell you everything. I want to confess all to you about my past and about my time with Master Ina. May I do that?"

"You may," Koran said with a smile. "Do you want to do that now before we sleep? I still have enough energy to listen if you have enough to talk."

"I would like that." Laedra bowed her head meekly to Koran. "Thank you for saving me, Koran Darr. I don't ever want to be that close to the edge ever again."

"Together we will make sure you never get that close again," Koran said. "And, if I had carried through with expelling you from the Order, it would have been the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. You are a good woman, and can be a great Jedi. To lose your skills and your friendship...it would have hurt deeply." Slowly, he returned to his side of the bed and took a seat. "Now, come and tell me the story of Laedra Vorrel."

Laedra curled up under the blankets of the bed, and did precisely that throughout the night, stopping only when her entire story had unfolded before Koran. She told of her unhappy childhood and her heartbreak with Ina, but held back mention of her love for Liam and their relationship. Especially now, she needed that one thing to cling to, to keep her sane. If Koran discovered they were intimate, especially now, he would have it put to a stop. Of all the things he could take away from her - her title, her secrets - this was the one thing he could not touch, and would not for as long as she could safeguard it; but, everything else was rightfully his as her Master.

She would eventually overcome the disgrace of being stripped of her rank and having to start her training again from the beginning, but one thought comforted her and it was that this time, it would be done right and this time, perhaps Koran Darr could teach her how to completely come to terms with her bitter past and finally relieve her fully of its pain.

---

"First Challenge"
by Jemul - Jawa Droid Trader
and Quinlan Vos [NPC] - Jedi Master

Location: Jedi Temple and Jemul's Shop
Date: Niothe 20, 4ABY

***

Master Vos was coated with a light layer of sweat. A dozen combat droids swung around his blindfolded form, swerving around with their tell-tale hums. Finally he safeguarded his lightsaber and the small spherical training bots stopped in mid-air, hovering just above his head. Quinlan set them off and sat down to focus and concentrate.

He had to consider his training but also that these spheres were simply not good enough. Even in the old days he had thought so, but then again they were mostly used to train younger Padawans with much less experience. Well, at the Temple he knew that most did not consider them challenging enough, not unless he was blindfolded and up against several of them.

It was time to perhaps seek something better. In his last trip to New Plouton he had heard about a droid shop owned by a Jawa. This struck him as odd since he had almost never heard of the small scavengers out of Tatooine. Nevertheless, they always seemed to have the technology, so it might just be worth a try. Perhaps there he would find something more of a challenge for the better trained ones at the Temple...

Quinlan exited the training room and went off into New Plouton, taking one of the swoops. Perhaps this trader could make the practice targets less predictable and therefore more of challenge. Soon, he had reached his destination. Stopping the swoop at a place with the name "Droid Haven" above the doors he got out and walked inside, hoping to find what he had come for.

Jemul heard the dangling chime sound, so he knew someone had walked into his shop. It was time to greet his first customer! He put the cleaning rags away. The city of New Plouton was remarkably clean for a terraformed place, but the shop had been vacant for some time before Jemul's arrival. He was glad he cleaned the windows first so potential customers could see droids in them! The Jawa brushed dust off his robe, although it probably blended in so well with the brown color no one would have noticed.

"Greetings", the Jawa opened. "Welcome to my humble shop. I am Jemul. How may I help you today?"

Quinlan smiled and bowed ever so slightly. "I have some practice target drones, although I find them much too predictable. I need a more challenging model constructed," Quinlan Vos said.

"That will require research. I need to know more about what you use them for so I may create a droid or machine which better meets your needs. And I will need raw materials to make the new devices, since I've only just arrived with meager supplies."

"I do have some of them outside for you to modify... I was hoping we could bargain a fair price," the Jedi Master said as he ran his hand across his forehead and sighed. "Friend. It is a hot and thirsty day. Perhaps we should adjourn to the Pink Monga for a beverage? I think I can answer all of your questions," Quinlan suggested. Since it was reasonable that Jemul learn his customers' needs before he started work, the Jedi Master did not even need to tap the Force for the new merchant to acquiesce to the request.

"An acceptable idea. I was thinking of having some refreshments before you came in, since word of my shop is just now spreading, not many have dropped by yet..."

"I am sure soon it will bring you profit." Quinlan nodded in consent as the small Jawa headed outside with him and had a protocol droid of his take care of the shop while he was gone.

---

"Deus Ex Machina"
by Major Dane Weyland

Location: Drogen Shipyards
Date: Niothe 20, 4 ABY

***

It was very late in the night, when only the darkest of predators dared cross the wastelands of world in search of their prey.

Sleeping beside him was the naked form of the beautiful Chief of Security, and he silently cursed himself for not sleeping like the child he begged to be. At this time of night, it was his dream to be in the arms of a woman he found to be as charming and beautiful as her, but instead he lay there beneath the sheets to stare blankly at the plasteel paneling that coated the ceiling of his expansive cabin.

With his arms propped underneath his head, he slowly moved his eyes to the side of the cabin to gaze wantonly out into the void of space. He wanted to sleep, and he found himself attempting to count the stars to induce sleep for the fifth time since she'd lulled off to sleep. It wasn't that the sheets were uncomfortable despite the slight film their sweat had left upon them, because the bed smelled of them. However, Major Dane Weyland found himself fighting his morals that evening.

He had been asked by the Grand Admiral himself to spy on Director Anoran for the purpose of rooting out any possibility of treason. However, for the first time he found himself suspicious of the girl laying in bed beside him. She seemed to be Anoran's only ally in her depressing little world, and if any hint of treason came to Tarkin's mind the station would become Imperial property in less than ten seconds. However, if Anoran and Rilanna were accomplices, he would possibly be faced with the duty of executing them both.

With a silent sigh, he slid out of bed without stirring Rilanna, and soundlessly crept towards his office. The soft carpet beneath his naked toes was warm and forgiving to the touch, but Weyland felt like he was about to fire the Death Star itself into his own home...his own sanity.

Normally, he'd found dressing into uniform to be a rewarding experience as he clipped every medal and insignia to his black uniform with pride. Tonight, he dressed quickly to spare himself the joy and the pain of remembering the moment. He grabbed his blaster belt off of the console and fastened it around his waist and stepped out of the cabin.

As loyal as Cartyan Bloodhounds were the two Elite Stormtroopers on each side of the door. The both of them turned to Weyland in a formal salute.

"At ease, Gentlemen," he said, returning the salute. "Sergeant Greyden I require an escort to the Maelstrom II. I require you, Corporal Jazst, to remain at your station to watch over the cabin."

"Yes, sir!" the two massive stormtroopers replied in unison as Weyland turned on his heels. The Sergeant moved to match pace with Weyland as they began their trek towards the Imperial Strike Cruiser.

***

"Officer on deck!" the first called out, as all of the Imperial Navy personnel stood from their stations to salute the major.

"At ease, man your positions," Weyland stated calmly as he lowered himself into the soft plush of his commander's chair.

It was a safe assumption that Major Weyland was in love with his commander's chair. Never in any of his years had he ever had the pleasure of sitting in a more comfortable piece of furniture than it. It was secured into the ceiling with a thick three diameter cylinder that could be raised and lowered at will. Hanging from this cylinder was the curved form of the chair. Luxuriously padded in the softest thermasilk cushioning it could be tilted and angled to his pleasure. Attached to the armrests were various panels and communications controls that were designed in the same luxurious fashion as the chair itself, and at the foot of the chair were panels to rest his feet upon.

"Lieutenant Sebastian," he called into his chair's communications module. "Prepare four CD-X2 probes for launch on my command."

"Yes, sir," called the accented voice over the speakers, dimly distorted by the hissing of the communications link.

Within minutes, Weyland's starboard monitor lit up with the status of the probe launchers reading green. On his port monitor he loaded up a tactical map of the hull of the shipyards. With a sigh, Weyland loaded the communications link to the Probe control team and hailed them.

"Gentlemen, here is your task. I want you to hover the probes in cloaking mode to the locations specified and open a secure line monitoring signal over four key locations. The surveillance team roster has been allocated and sent via electronic datapad to your teams so I suggest you check them immediately after their placement," he ordered coldly, pausing for a moment. "Are there any questions?"

"No sir," the team called over the comm system.

With a sigh, Weyland targetted the locations of Anoran's Quarters, Anoran's office, and the Director's reception room where her young secretary worked before pausing over his selection. He rolled the shipyard's holographic display slowly to gaze over the model's paneling that displayed the outer hull of Rilanna's quarters. Slowly he tapped the hologram and targetted it as well.

Outside of the massive Imperial Strike Cruiser, four small probes no larger than a stormtrooper's blaster detatched themselves from the hull and floated silently towards their destinations. The probes, the Empire's new state of the art design, were designed to allocate intelligence data from within 700 kilometers without alerting modern bug scanners. They also had the capability to cloak themselves in intervals when scanning ships entered their radar threat zone. Regardless, Weyland only had ten of them and they were sure to do the trick.

Weyland closed his eyes slowly, and prayed that Rilanna was not a part of this treason.

---

"Dawning Eternity, Part 1"
By: Merrick Braston
Kaysa Zenarr-Tregat

Location: Bespin
Date: Niothe 20, 4 ABY

***

If Kaysa hadn't been so racked with anxiety, she would have fallen asleep against Merrick hours ago. The flight through hyperspace was in fact quite tranquil and calming, with the hypnotic streaking of stars past the viewport just about lulling her, but not quite. Not when the knowledge of what she was about to do monopolizing her thoughts.

She glanced down at her fingers laced with Merrick's, and focused her gaze on the ring upon her third finger. The sight of the faceted red jewels encrusting the gold band of metal made Kaysa at once as overjoyed as she'd been when Merrick presented her with it. Asking him to purchase it for her had been on a whim, but it led her to yearning for more. And, more she would have once they arrived on Bespin. It was only a day's journey from Tae'Karada, and as they neared the end of their flight, Kaysa felt it had taken far too long. She wanted to do this with such determination, that she feared she'd never recover if Merrick refused her this one wish. But, she had a strong feeling he wouldn't be able to.

She turned her head to look upon his face, smooth-featured and peaceful from sleep, and even more beautiful than when he gazed at her with those smoky gray eyes and gave her that smile to melt hearts. What was he dreaming of, she wondered. When he closed his eyes, was her face the one he saw against the black backdrop of unconsciousness? She laughed softly. He most likely dreamed of musical notes dancing in the air, wearing equadi or some other such nonsense. Whatever it was, at least she knew that when he was awake and peering dreamily into her eyes, she was the only one on his mind.

"I love you, Merrick Braston, keeper of my heart," she murmured into his ear. "Do you know that? Do you feel it? Well...no worries. You will soon enough."

The waning drone of the hyperdrive engines powering down shifted Kaysa's attention to the scene outside. The trails of light contracted and resolved into thousands of stars dotting the inky expanse, and dominating the landscape was the planet of her birth, the place that fashioned the bitter woman she had once been, who she hoped wouldn't make a return once confronted with memories of her heartbreaks and loss. One look at Merrick, though, and all that would be quickly forgotten.

"My love?" Kaysa nuzzled her lips to his ear. "Wake up. We're here."

Sleep slowly faded to be replaced by the warmth of Kaysa's lips against his ear and her fingers laced with his. He smiled. He couldn't help smiling when he was around Kaysa. He finally opened his eyes and turned his gaze to her. "I was wondering when we'd get here," he said. "It's been quite awhile since I've been back to Bespin. And, being here with you makes it that much more beautiful. I don't think there's a planet in the galaxy with a more beautiful sunrise or sunset."

"You've already got an idea for a song in your head, haven't you?"

Merrick laughed, and kissed Kaysa's hand. "My love, I always have ideas for songs in my head," he said.

"Well...I hope there's room for me in there," she teased. "Or am I doomed to always come second to your love for music?"

"You are my music," Merrick said. "You are my inspiration and my reason for wanting to keep singing. And, besides there's more than enough room for you in here. You, my dear, always come first. Though, I have a really difficult time resisting one of those Corellian ballads."

"You always do know how to ruin perfectly wonderful flattery with a sly comment." She laughed softly and smoothed out the left side of Merrick's hair, which had been flattened upright from using the viewport as a pillow during his slumber. "For a celebrity, you certainly don't care much about your physical appearance."

Merrick laughed. "Well, I do care about it when I have to go on stage," he said. "When I'm not on stage, no one suspects I'm a celebrity when I look like I've been sleeping in the cargo hold of an old freighter. I thought it was pretty ingenious myself."

"Oh, my clever boyfriend," Kaysa drawled. "Just don't fool yourself into thinking you're cunning enough to ever outsmart Kaysa Zenarr."

"Oh, I don't think I could ever do that," Merrick said. "I'm not nearly that clever. Besides, we sleep in the same bed. This isn't the kind of secret that can be kept from someone I'm intimate with."

"Not even Zale?" Kaysa snickered and shot Merrick an accusatory look. "You two appeared a little too comfortable with each other that night in bed. Are you sure there wasn't something more going on there?"

"I have a feeling your husband is secretly gay, Kaysa," Merrick said with a laugh. "I have a sneaking suspicion that the only reason he's with you is so he could get close to me."

"Clever and arrogant," Kaysa noted. "Why Merrick Braston, you certainly are the perfect example of a vain celebrity, aren't you?"

Merrick laughed and then leaned in to kiss Kaysa. "Oh I am," he said with a sly grin. "Just wait until you watch me preening before a show, and dealing with my fans. It truly is a sight to behold."

Kaysa grinned at Merrick, then took his face into her hands and kissed him deeply. So engrossed in the kiss, neither Kaysa nor Merrick noticed the ship penetrating Bespin's thick atmosphere and settling down in the docking bay of the spaceport. It was only the pilot's ship-wide announcement of their arrival that managed to break the kiss. "Wow," she breathed. "That mouth of yours certainly is good for more than singing."

"I've been trying to tell you that since we met," Merrick said with a grin. "I guess it took a demonstration to prove it. I hope you're satisfied now."

Kaysa nodded emphatically and pulled Merrick up with her out of their seats. "So, ready for the second phase of our vacation?"

Merrick grinned and grabbed the small bag that'd been shoved under their seats. "I'm ready," he said. "I have no idea what you have planned for us here, but I've always loved surprises and adventures. Lead me where you will, my love."

Kaysa sidled with Merrick away from their seats and led him down the aisle towards the docking ramp. "I have a feeling you'll never in your lifetime forget about this day, Merrick."

They stepped onto the spaceport, and as per Merrick's previously made arrangements, a hovercab was waiting to transport them to their hotel. "Merrick, do you think we can go shopping? I wanted to pick up something nice."

"Of course we can," Merrick said with a laugh. "We're on vacation. We can do as much shopping as you'd like. That's what this time is for. Not that I'd ever say no to shopping with you when we weren't off on vacation together."

"Good. And I want you to pick up something nice too, okay? You have to look tidy and kempt, that means none of this walking around with your shirt untucked." Kaysa smiled to herself. He would whine about all the fuss now, but once he got his surprise, he would be too happy to even care anymore.

The driver came to greet them and relieved them of their bags. Merrick, displaying his gentlemanly manners, held open the hatch for Kaysa and helped her into the hovercab. Once the bags were loaded and all three settled within the vehicle, it started off through the streets of this marvel of architecture that had been deemed a city, and towards their hotel.

Kaysa had never paid much attention to how unique and extraordinary her homeworld really was; gazing out through the transparisteel viewports of the street corridor at the orange-hued clouds enshrouding the vast city-structure (one of many built by human hands to make an otherwise uninhabitable planet liveable), she experienced a moment of awe and wonder, sensations both of which had before been overshadowed by the grief she had experienced on Bespin in her youth. With Merrick, perhaps the happiness she hoped to find with him here could give Bespin a reputation more befitting of its magnificence, and become a place Kaysa truly could call home.

***

"I think I'm in the mood for something very expensive today, Merrick. Are you sure you can afford me?" Kaysa stopped before another shop displaying fashionable apparel, but yet again, none were to her liking. With a tug, she pulled Merrick back into motion.

Merrick laughed as he allowed himself to be dragged along. "When are you not in the mood for something expensive?" he said. "And, of course I can afford you. You've only spent half my fortune so far."

"Well, don't worry. When you run out, I've got plenty left from the allowance my generous husband gives me."

"Oh no," Merrick said with a laugh, "not his money. I've still got more than enough for you. We may have to dine on scraps tonight, but I've got more than enough for shopping."

Kaysa giggled and laid her head upon Merrick's shoulder. "You're so good to me. Do I deserve it, you think? Do I deserve you?"

"I certainly hope so," Merrick said with a laugh. "Whether you deserve me or not, I don't want to give you up."

"Getting possessive of me, Braston? I don't know whether I should be flattered or a little unsettled." Kaysa sighed efficaciously. "I am a married woman after all, Mr. Braston."

"You are? Well, then perhaps I should move to the other side of the street where all the single people are. And, you really should return to your husband instead of gallivanting around with me."

"I would, but you forget, Mr. Braston, that I'm the possessive type as well." She kissed his neck lightly and grinned. "If I want a male mistress, then I will have one and you shall be it."

"I see," Merrick said with a laugh. "Well, I like the sound of that. So, I guess we should go buy some inordinately expensive things now."

Kaysa nodded vigorously, her eyes wide with anticipation. They crossed the street but not to scout out any single, available people; instead, Kaysa led them to a dress shop that looked, from the window, to have precisely the style of clothing that appealed to her tastes. The moment she entered the shop, she emitted a happy squeal and rushed towards the racks of clothing. "Merrick! Come help!"

Merrick laughed and quickly hurried to catch up with her. The sight that he was met with brought out a laugh, and he shook his head. "I think they're going to love us here. We're giving them an incredible boost to their economy."

"Oh, I don't care about that. I just want dresses!" In Kaysa's exuberance, she gathered an armful of dresses from the rack and hugged them to her chest. "Let's go try these on." She scurried away towards the changing rooms, leaving a trail of giggles and delighted squeals behind her.

Merrick laughed again and followed after. "I'm not trying on dresses," he said to himself. "But, I will gladly help you try them on." With that, he hurried through her wake and took up a seat outside the changing room. It was wonderful to see her so happy. He hoped that there was some way for him to make her this way all the time.

In the stall, Kaysa tried on a series of dresses, many of which she didn't even bother showing to Merrick, until she finally slipped one on that she felt comfortable displaying to him. "It's not too tight, is it?" She stepped through the opening of the stall and smoothed out the bodice of the red dress hugging her body. She looked up at Merrick with an uncertain frown. "Too short? Too red? Too not me?"

Merrick couldn't wipe the smile from his face. "It's perfect," he said. "It's absolutely perfect." He stood up from the chair he'd seated himself in, and stepped forward. "It should be against the law to look that beautiful in public."

Kaysa rolled her eyes and laughed. "Where are all the smooth lines when you need them? Is that the best you can come up with, Braston?"

"The way my heart beats when I see you before me now," he said softly. "I'm afraid your beauty may be too much to behold. But the love I feel for you will give me the strength to survive your touch."

Kaysa grinned foolishly and pressed her hands to her burning cheeks. "Stop that," she said bashfully. "You're horrible, Merrick Braston. I don't think I'll stop blushing for hours now."

Merrick laughed and he brushed a hand along her arm. "Well, red is your colour, my love," he said.

"Well, there's another dress I wanna try on. It's white. I have a feeling it might be my colour too." Kaysa kissed Merrick quickly, then backed into the stall again. When she re-emerged, the red dress had been replaced by a white, sleeveless one extending to below her ankles with the hem brushing the tops of her bare feet. It fit snugly on her torso, then loosely from her waist down. She held out her arms as she turned slowly in place while Merrick appraised the dress. "Is white my colour then?"

"I have a sneaking suspicion that white is definitely your colour too," he said. "I like the sleeveless, and the length is perfect. You really should wear more dresses, Kaysa. Well, if you want to." He grinned. "You do look amazing."

"I do..." she agreed with a serene smile, then giggled and hopped on the spot. "I wanna wear it out! Can I wear it out, Merrick? Please?"

"I don't see why not," Merrick said. "We should probably take the ones you like up and pay for them. And, you can wear this one out. Though, with a dress that nice, we're gonna have to find somewhere nice to go tonight."

"Don't worry," Kaysa said with a grin, "I have just the place." She sauntered back into the dressing stall and collected her clothing, as well as the dresses she intended to purchase. "We need to buy you something to match," she told him as they then started for the front counter. "Perhaps a suit of some kind. You think?"

"A suit sounds like a very good idea," Merrick said. "And, I think I saw a place a couple doors down. They looked like they might have something in my size."

"Well, then pay the woman and let's go!" Kaysa laid down upon the counter the dresses she wasn't already wearing and slipped her arm through Merrick's as he pulled out his credit chip. "We'll walk the rest of the way. No more hovercabs. We can get more talking in that way."

Merrick smiled and handed his credit chip to the woman while she scanned in all of Kaysa's purchases, including the one she wore. It took only a few minutes to complete, and then they were walking down toward a store where Merrick could get himself something nice for the evening. "I wonder what any of the others would say if they knew we were on Bespin right now."

"I imagine they wouldn't think much of it. I mean, we're prone to bouts of impulsiveness. Catching a transport off the planet is something they shouldn't put past us."

"So very true," Merrick said as he began looking around at the racks after they entered the store. "If they ask, we can just tell them we needed to get away from the Morality Guard...and Vendra wasn't far enough."

"Or we could tell them we really don't know why we came...since we don't." Kaysa glanced a sidelong at Merrick and smiled slyly. "Well...at least not you."

Merrick laughed. "I am still completely in the dark like a daga mushroom," he said. "Though, I'm going to be the best dressed mushroom you've ever seen. What about that suit over there?"

"Ooh, very smart. I think it would go well with your eyes." Kaysa regarded the suit for a moment longer, then nodded her head decisively. "Definitely that one. Go and try it on, my love."

Merrick strode forward and picked out a suit that was closer to his size, and then started back toward the changing rooms. He cast a glance back to Kaysa and flashed her a large grin before disappearing inside to change. Several minutes later, he stepped out wearing the suit. He glanced at Kaysa, and then turned around so she could see the whole thing. "Well?"

"Hmm..." Kaysa moved forward casually, tapping her finger upon her chin and evaluating Merrick's appearance. She gently turned him around until his back was to her, then just as gently, she cupped his rear with her hands and pressed the length of her body against his. "It accentuates your assets nicely," she whispered into his ear.

"Oh," Merrick gasped. "You know, I really like it when you fondle my assets. I think I should get this one. Does it go well enough with yours? I don't think I can be a very good judge while you've got your hands on my ass."

"Don't like them there?" Kaysa pouted playfully and circled Merrick until she was standing before him. "I think it works perfectly with my dress which, if you keep looking as handsome as you do, won't be staying on for very long."

Merrick chuckled softly as he wrapped his arms around Kaysa. "Well, as long as we're out in public, I think it's a good idea if your dress stays on. I have a feeling they don't appreciate people wandering around the streets naked the way they do on Tae'Karada. Once we're in our room though..."

Kaysa's grin broadened the longer Merrick's words hung in the air. "After. For now, let's pay for that suit and get to the next part of our adventure on Bespin. Shall we?"

"Definitely," Merrick said with a grin. "Now, should I wear this out of here, or change into it later? What do your plans call for, my love? I am at your mercy."

"That sounds so wonderful," Kaysa purred. "But we're going straight to where we need to be, so keep the suit on. Just trust me, Merrick. I think you'll like the surprise."

"I trust you completely," he said with a grin. "Now, let me go get my other clothes, and we can get out of here." With that, he slipped back into the changing room and grabbed his other clothes. He met Kaysa at the cashier, paid, and soon they were standing outside on the street again.

"So," Merrick said with a laugh. "Wherever you lead, I will follow."

Kaysa looked up and down the street, and appearing to have chosen an arbitrary direction, she started leading them to the planned destination. "You know, this is the city I grew up in," she mentioned as they began their stroll along the walkway. "It was a long time ago, but I still remember everything about this place. It's home, but it almost doesn't feel that way anymore. I guess I've just been away too long."

"How long has it been since you were here?" Merrick asked. "I haven't been back to my home since the Emperor decided he didn't like my music."

"I haven't been here for ten years, since I ran out on Keeve. I haven't seen my parents for just as long, but I doubt they'd want to associate with their disappointment of a daughter anyway."

"I know all about that," Merrick said with a laugh. "My parents weren't really all that pleased that I chose music over Imperial service. But, I'm doing what I want and I'm with the person I want to be with. It can't get any better than this."

"Oh yes it can," Kaysa muttered. She glanced sideways at Merrick and steered him towards a park along their route. "You know, I met Cadwin here." She sighed wistfully as she entwined her arm around Merrick's. "I was on that bench over there, reading, and he came up to me with some cheesy pick-up line, but I was young and naive...and it worked."

Merrick laughed. "So, what was the line? And, what were you reading?" He looked around and smiled. "It really is beautiful here. I can't imagine what kind of music I would have made if I'd grown up here instead of on Coruscant. So, that bench right there?"

Kaysa groaned and led Merrick to the object of his fixation. She sat him down upon the bench, then joined him. "This bench. I was sitting here and he was kneeling right before me. The line was something about my eyes and how he could get lost in them. Oh, I was so flustered and giggling. I mean, he was much older than me, and to catch the attention of an older man..." Kaysa laid her head upon Merrick's shoulder and sighed again. "I was so in love, Merrick. He was my world and when he just took off... It felt like there was nothing left."

"I can imagine what it must have been like," he said. "I don't know what I would have done in your place. It's not an easy position to end up in, but I think for all of it, you came out of it well...and we're in good places together now. I don't think there is anyone else alive who is as loved as you are now."

"I know, but there's still this tiny little part of me inside that wonders why Cadwin just didn't love me enough to stay." Kaysa shrugged dismissively. "It's done with now. If he had stayed, I would have become a bored homemaker and probably would have walked out on him anyway."

"Well, if it didn't work out the way it did, you may have never made it to Tae'Karada, we would have never met, and then...then I'd be sitting here talking to a complete stranger on this bench."

"And that complete stranger could've been me." Kaysa smiled fondly and stroked Merrick's hand lightly with her fingers. "Did you know that on Bespin the laws regarding marriage work very strangely? Cadwin told me all about it before he proposed. I think it was his way of preparing me before popping the question, or to gather the courage to ask." She glanced up at Merrick, then quickly away before she continued. "Anyway, once someone lands on Bespin, any marriage contract in which they've entered becomes immediately nullified for as long as they remain on the planet. But once, you leave, the other becomes valid again. Now, say you get married on Bespin then leave. What happens then? Well...the marriage contract you've made on Bespin still holds true, as long as there are no stipulations in the law on any other planet you go to that deems that contract void. Isn't that interesting?"

Merrick raised an eyebrow, but then slowly nodded. "That is indeed very interesting," he said. "I had never heard of that law before. I think it's truly an intriguing law. And, I imagine there are few planets out there with the foresight in their laws to void that sort of contract. Definitely interesting."

Kaysa nodded in agreement with Merrick, hoping he was catching on. Both remained silent for a time before Kaysa looked up at Merrick and as casually as ever said, "So, are you going to ask me to marry you or not, Braston?"

---

"Dawning Eternity, Part 2"
By: Merrick Braston
Kaysa Zenarr-Tregat
Siara [NPC]

Location: Bespin
Date: Niothe 20, 4 ABY

***

Merrick chewed on his lip for a moment, then glanced down at Kaysa's hand. Specifically he was looking at the new ring sitting there. He looked up at her again. "Do you...do you mind if I borrow that ring for a moment?"

Kaysa obliged immediately. She swiftly slid the ring off her finger and eagerly held it out to Merrick. She smiled at him and watched him with wide, expectant eyes as he took the ring.

Merrick folded the ring into his palm and then looked around before looking up into Kaysa's eyes once more. Slowly, softly he began singing the song he'd been singing the first moment when his eyes met hers. He followed it with a smooth transition into Whispers After Midnight, that eventually became a song he'd been saving for her: Trithin. Finally the song ended and he smiled. "Kaysa Zenarr, from the very beginning I was drawn to you. The first time I told you I loved you, you threw up, but that didn't deter me. I have loved you with all my heart and all of my songs. I can think of nothing greater, nothing more fulfilling than to ask you to be my wife. Kaysa, will you marry me?"

Kaysa tried to express her reply with words, and despite her mouth being able to move, none of them would come out. The only sound that did, however, was a whimpering cry, which was proceeded by a stream of tears. She nodded her head, the only way to get her response across and giggled helplessly as she held out her flattened hand to Merrick.

Merrick took the ring she'd given him and returned it to Kaysa's finger. "I'll take that as a yes," he said with a smile.

Kaysa stared down at the ring, forgetting for a time how to breathe. Finally, she emitted a shrill squeal and threw her arms around Merrick. "Oh gods, yes I'll marry you, you fool!"

Merrick laughed and held tight to her. "I love you so much, Kaysa," he whispered, "and you've made me the happiest man alive."

"Not yet," she said softly. "After I become Kaysa Braston, then you can say that."

Merrick laughed and tried to pull Kaysa even closer. "When did you want to do it? And...and a honeymoon on Bespin. I like the sound of that."

Kaysa craned her neck back to gaze up at Merrick and grinned at him smartly. "Well, we're all dressed up, me in my white dress, you in your fancy suit... Conveniently enough, we look all ready for a wedding so why not do it now?"

"I can't think of a better time," Merrick said with a laugh. "And, I suppose you know exactly where we should go for this wedding, don't you?"

Kaysa quirked her eyebrows and batted her lashes to make her appear the ideal model of innocence, and simply rose from the bench. "I think I know a place or two..." Her eyes scanned the horizon, then with a feigned gasp, she looked pointedly at a government building across the park. "Why...I think it's our lucky day, Mr. Braston. There's one right there!"

Merrick too feigned shock as he looked at the building. "Well, will you look at that? You know, if I didn't know better, I would say that you had this whole encounter planned out." He held a hand out for her. "Shall we go see if they're interested in helping us start our honeymoon?"

Kaysa laughed as she jerked Merrick up and into her arms. She kissed him firmly, then slipped away and scampered off towards the government building with the hem of her wedding dress in her hand and her husband-to-be trailing immediately behind her.

Merrick hurried along behind taking as much care as he could with the bundles held in one hand. They passed through the doorway into the building and were greeted by a large woman with a welcoming smile.

"Good afternoon," she said. "How may I be of service today?"

Kaysa slipped her arm through Merrick's and grinned. "We have an appointment. We're getting married."

Merrick couldn't hide his shock as he looked at Kaysa. "We do?"

"Oh yes," the woman said. "I am Siara. You must be Kaysa, and this must be Merrick. We haven't had the opportunity to join a celebrity in marriage before. Please, come this way, Kaysa, Merrick. We can begin the ceremony at once."

Merrick laughed. "You did plan this, didn't you?"

"Well, one of us had to. I couldn't very well wait around for you to do it, so I took the liberty of doing it myself. If I weren't so cunning and impetuous, we'd never be married!"

"Well, remind me to thank you for your cunning impetuousness tonight," Merrick said with a sly grin. "And, if I knew that a law like this existed, I would have asked you to take a vacation with me to Bespin awhile ago."

"It's alright, my love," Kaysa said as she stroked his cheek with her hand. "You have many other talents to make up for your lack of craftiness. Let me be the devious one. I think I'm far better at it."

"Oh, by all means," Merrick said. "And, I'll sing songs about your deviousness. They will be legend." As they passed through one set of doorways, Merrick stopped and placed the bundles on a shelf near the door, conveniently placed for such an occasion.

The robust woman led them into a reception hall that served normally as a meeting room for the various government officials to discuss policies or last night's hoverball game. Traversing the centre of the room was a swath of white carpet leading up to a platform with a podium extending up from it. The scene was almost as it was when she and Zale were married, but the mood was less frantic and apprehensive. She'd married Zale out of necessity, but this time with Merrick, she was doing it because it was truly what she wanted.

Siara mounted the platform and stood behind the lectern with a warm smile upon her face.

"You ready?" Kaysa whispered to Merrick. "Not that it matters. You're still going through with this, Braston."

"I'm more than ready," Merrick whispered back. "Though, I've got this feeling in my stomach. What does Shiv call that? Flutterbies? But, I can't think of anything I want more in life than to be your husband. Let's do this, my love. I want to be Merrick Zenarr."

Kaysa was absolutely swooning within, but her outward appearance remained collected and mildly excited. She felt no anxiety or hesitation at the thought of becoming Merrick's wife; she'd imagined it more than once in her mind and even then liked the idea very much indeed. "You're not gonna faint, are you?" she asked, but more to herself than Merrick.

"You better stay close, just in case," Merrick said as they stepped to where Siara was directing them. "I think those flutterbies are having babies."

"That reminds me... Shiv is gonna be livid that she didn't get to be my bridesmaid...again!"

Merrick laughed, and then covered his mouth when he realized he was making too much noise. Once his laughter was under control, he pulled his hand away with a grin still in place. "Maybe sex with the groom with appease her. Or sex with the bride. Or both. I guess we'll have to find out."

"Shh!" Kaysa giggled and shoved Merrick. He stumbled over the remaining distance to the platform, and after he righted himself, Kaysa came up beside him and tenderly linked hands with him. She nodded to the woman, then took a deep breath for herself.

Siara smiled at both Merrick and Kaysa, then opened her hands in a welcoming gesture. "Let us begin the ceremony," she said.

***

The sun was nearly at the level of the horizon, and there were shades of pink, blue, and orange cast everywhere through the dome keeping out all noxious gasses. Merrick smiled as he and Kaysa walked hand in hand. After the ceremony, Merrick had hired a courier to take their purchases back to the hotel room, leaving his hands free for other things. "You were right," he said. "Now that it's after the ceremony, I am the happiest man alive."

"And we haven't even had our honeymoon yet." Kaysa kissed Merrick's neck softly, then sighed and nestled her cheek on his shoulder. "Are we going to tell Shiv and Zale? I don't mind if we do. I don't mind anyone knowing I am now officially Kaysa Zenarr-Tregat-Tarell...Braston," she said with dreamy sigh.

"I think we should tell them," Merrick said with a happy sigh. "I think they deserve to know. And, I can think of no reason not to say anything."

"Well...you and Zale might have to square off to decide whose surname comes first, but other than that, I don't think he'd have a problem with it."

Merrick chuckled softly. "Well you could always just vary it. One day you could be Kaysa Tregat-Braston, the next Braston-Tregat, and then maybe Kaysa Zenarr again."

"Always Kaysa Zenarr," Kaysa said meaningfully. "Isn't that why you love me, after all?"

"Yes," Merrick whispered. "Though, you're still you whichever name you choose. And, I think you should take whichever name you feel most comfortable with."

"The names don't really matter. As long as we know in our hearts that we're bound forever." Kaysa brought up her hand and angled it towards the sunlight. The glint of the jewels made her giggle. It was materialistic of her, but she certainly did love shiny things. "I have to get you a wedding gift too. What would you want?"

"I've already got what I want," he said as he slipped his arms around her waist. "Though, a few days here with you would be very nice too."

"I think we can do that." She kissed him lightly, then added with a laugh, "And my other gift to you... I won't put you through the torment of having to meet my parents. How's that?"

"Oh," Merrick said with an appraising nod. "So very generous of you. I think that sounds like the best present a guy could ever ask for."

Kaysa snorted and nodded emphatically. "Oh, believe me it is. Why do you think Keeve turned out the way he did? Well...it wasn't entirely their fault. How well would you have turned out if you found out your mother and father didn't want you?"

Merrick nodded. "Tough question to answer, but I'm sure we'll be giving him enough love that he'll forget all about that. Maybe we could go on a vacation with Keeve one of these days. I think he might like that, especially if we go somewhere he'd like."

"Well, only if Auntie Shiv comes along. I don't think he'd go anywhere without her." Kaysa shrugged. "As long as he's not calling her 'mommy' then I think I've still got a chance."

Merrick chuckled softly. "I can't imagine how he couldn't love you," he said. "Especially with Shiv around. With her, I don't know if it's possible not to love. Anyway, I'm sure in time, everything will be right again."

"It feels right at the moment." Kaysa gazed up at Merrick and laughed gently. "I'm so glad I tricked you in marrying me, Mr. Braston. Now finally those groupies will get off your back."

"Oh, I don't think marriage alone will stop them," he said with a wide grin. "Though, having you on my arm will definitely be a deterrent."

"Damn right it will be. These fingernails aren't just for decoration. They're gouging nails, so your fans better behave themselves."

Merrick looked at Kaysa's nails and gave her a look that indicated he was impressed. "Very impressive," he said. "I may have to make an announcement at my next show. I wouldn't want anyone to unwittingly be injured. And, besides, I really like the idea of announcing to everyone that you're my wife."

Kaysa snaked her arms around Merrick's neck and nuzzled her nose with his. "Your wife," she repeated, testing out the words. "I think I really, really like how that sounds, Mr. Braston. If I close my eyes, I can picture us five years into the future, still together and a baby cradled in my arms. That's a nice image."

"It's a very nice image," Merrick said with a grin. "Eventually, I'll probably start slowing down on performances and start working behind the scenes more, producing most likely. That'll give us lots of time together, you know."

"We have lots of time already, Merrick. We have our entire lives. And I am young...so even if I give Zale a child, there's still time for us to make a family." Kaysa looked down and frowned, perplexed. "That's not too weird, is it? I mean, me having another man's child, then yours..."

"When the other man is your other husband, it's not too weird. Scheduling which husband to spend your nights with, and then the time spent with your mistress...that's going to be the weird part."

"Yeah..." Kaysa sighed and kicked at the blades of grass still beneath their feet. The sun was almost set and they were still standing in the middle of the park holding each other in their arms. "I want to make love to you now, Merrick. That's what I wanna do."

"Did you want to go back to the hotel, or should we just use a park bench? Or we could find someplace even more salacious. Like an alley behind some store. Or a holovid theatre."

Kaysa playfully batted Merrick on the chest and stepped back out of his hold. "Merrick! It's our wedding day and you want to make love in a theatre? Not exactly what I had in mind for our first time as husband and wife."

Merrick laughed. "Come on then," he said. "Let's take that walk back to our room to try out that beautiful bed they've given us."

"Now that sounds more like it, Braston. For a moment there, I thought marriage had stolen your sense of romanticism."

Merrick laughed and swept Kaysa into his arms again. "Oh, wait until tomorrow," he said. "You'll experience romanticism like you've never seen before."

"So you mean we're going to have sex in the back of a hovercab?" Kaysa teased.

"Is that your idea of romanticism, my love? Well, if my wife likes the back of cabs, then that's where we'll be. Otherwise, I thought we might go to the Seisar'iad Fall on Star City."

"Oh, my sweet musician," Kaysa moaned in delight, "you know just how to get me worked up, don't you?"

"I don't think we would have just gotten married if I didn't," Merrick said. "Now, I think we'd better hurry up. And, I'll carry you into the room, but I'm not about to carry you all the way back to it."

"Oh no?" Kaysa pouted. "Well, way to shatter my illusions of the ideal wedding day, Merrick!" She giggled and bounced in Merrick's arms, making her manageable weight now unmanageable. "Don't disappoint your wife, Mr. Braston."

"Very well," Merrick said. "Just...you'll have to wait for tomorrow for the nerf-back ride. And, you're damn lucky I'm still young and virile. If I had Zale's constitution, I'd probably pass out as soon as I got you into the room."

"Watch it, Braston," Kaysa warned, "that's my husband you're talking about...well, my other one."

Merrick laughed. "And, you and I both know that he could probably run around this city with you in his arms all day and still be able to make love to you all night long. Damn him. I must learn how he does that."

"Then let's start teaching you now." Kaysa, having mercy on her husband, slipped out of his arms and headed for the streetside on foot. "Merrick Braston," she called back wistfully, "however you did it, you've captured every part of me."

With a laugh, Merrick rushed after her. "It's only fitting," he said once he caught up. "You've lit my soul on fire, and I'll never be happy unless I'm with you."

"Another song quote, Merrick?" Kaysa laughed and shook her head. "You certainly are full of it--them, I mean."

"That was not a song quote," Merrick said, casting a glance at her. "Do you think I have no originality that I can't say something without recycling one of my songs?"

"I think it's possible, but highly improbable. So...prove it to me," Kaysa challenged with a crooked smile.

"Well, do you know all of my song lyrics by heart?" he asked her.

Kaysa smiled slowly at Merrick as she raised her head aloft then stared straight ahead at the setting sun. She began reciting the entire first verse of a song called "Passion's Embrace" from Merrick's very first album. Her rendition was a little easier on the ears than her previous one on Vendra had been, but it still sounded somewhat painful. Once she'd sufficiently proven her vast knowledge of Merrick's music, she walked in silence with a subtle, self-satisfied grin upon her face and watched the sun become obscured by a billowy cloud.

Merrick laughed, and then rushed forward and scooped her up into his arms. "Have I mentioned how much I absolutely love you? Oh gods, Kaysa. Without you, my life would have been so completely empty."

"Now that," she said as she brushed her lips against his, "is a much better line." Kaysa kissed him fully, and low in her throat began humming another of Merrick's songs, "Dawning Eternity." Words seemed out of place now, and were in fact impossible to vocalize as he held her up in his arms and their lips touched passionately and interminably; if that wasn't enough to express fully their sentiments for one another, she knew the song she was humming - Merrick's song - about love, heartbreak, and renewal would be enough to convince him that finally, they belonged to each other and that nothing would be able to sever the bond that now joined them, forever and always.

---

"Newly Formed Alliance"
By: Ellemiek Vermolen - New Republic Commander
Raxis L'Ygr - Raxis L'Ygr Leader
Ronan Dayre [NPC] - Red Dragons Slicer/Con artist
Gort Donovan - Red Dragons Mercenary/Bodyguard
Tralesha Zibel - Red Dragons Smuggler
and Jason Tallen - New Republic Rear Admiral

Location: Various Locations on Tae'Karada
Date: Niothe 20, 4 ABY

***

She walked in a nearby bar. She was waiting for some information from the New Republic's higher ranks but wanted to look around. She had to be sure about the Imperial activity in New Plouton being rather low as one could never be too sure.

She sat alone in a corner booth and hailed the waiter for a drink as she thought to herself about the new Rear Admiral that had been sent, which she had still not met. She wondered whether it would be him to deliver the information personally.

From the corner of her eye she watched patrons steadily flow in and out of Kappa's Kantina. Lifting a brow slightly, Ellemiek shifted in her seat as a familiar face entered the cantina and made way to the back.

***

"So you're trying to tell me that Blaster Kagrew's gay?" Gort said with a smirk as he walked into Kappas in a heated discussion with Ronan. "He's the top slamball player in the universe and is married to a supermodel."

"Gort, in Ronan's world everyone's gay." Tralesha snickered, tugging at Raxis' arm as they passed through the arches of the main section of the bar. "You'd think he'd try to convince me that Raxis is gay."

"Serious, people... Blaster Kagrew does underwear adds and is never seen in public with his wife! The man's a sister." Ronan laughed, as he lit a cigarra with a wave of his effeminate hand.

"Well if I ever come along Blaster Kagrew, unconscious in a box, I know what to get you for your birthday, Rone." Raxis chuckled and kissed Tralesha on the temple as they walked. "Let's get a drink."

Raxis, and company moved into one of the cantina's quieter side rooms and sat amongst each other to relax as they waited their server.

***

Ellemiek got up and grabbed her drink, making her way to the back after her acquaintances. Stopping by their table she placed her hand on her hip and grinned with a nod. "Well, if it isn't a small world... I'd sooner expect to find you in some place like Nar Shaddaa but then again I hear Thanatos can be a real deal!"

In unison, both Gort and Tralesha turned at the familiar voice and grinned. "Hey you!" They grinned and rose from their chairs for a hug.

"You ol' dog," Tralesha said as she pulled Ellemiek into a friendly hug. "Never thought I'd see you again, woman. How've you been?"

"Busy!" Ellemiek smiled. "Being a Commander is harder than I expected, but it seems the Alliance is seeing better days now that Palpatine has perished," she said holding back about her mission, which they did not need to know. "And you? I wondered when I'd hear about you guys again! Still in the smuggling business I would assume?" she asked, only then noticing the others at the table. "Oh, excuse me, I'm Ellemiek Vermolen. Pleased to meet you," she smiled.

"Hush what the?!?" Tralesha said, pulling Ellemiek down into a chair, speaking in hushed tones. "You looking to get yourself wasted or something what are you thinking talking about that stuff in a place like this?" Tralesha smiled and tapped Ellemiek on the forehead. "I know you outranked me but gods, girl you have to not talk about that stuff here unless we all go somewhere quiet. These people back here are my crew."

Raxis lit up a cigarra and raised his boots onto the table, trailing a fingertip over Tralesha's shoulder and a grin from behind his dark sunglasses.

"Oh, and this is my man, Raxis," Tralesha added, leaning back into his arms.

Ellemiek rubbed the back of her hand on her forehead as she leaned slightly forward. "I would expect that the others around here would have side businesses also, if you get my meaning..." she whispered. She then leaned back and got comfortable. "Nice to meet you, Raxis. But hey, you haven't told me yet what brought you to this part of the Galaxy!"

"Him," Tralesha said with a laugh, nuzzling Raxis. "Or something like that. So does this mean you and your team are gonna be coming on in through Tae'Karada?"

"Actually, I'm not commanding the Black Hawks at this present time, although I'm still the squadron leader," she explained. "Put simply, we're here because Grand Admiral Tarkin is as well... He's quite big you know? And to be honest it kind of scares me to think that his power augments every day."

Raxis leaned over and whispered into Tralesha's ear for a moment, before resting back and looking over to Ronan with a drag of his cigarra.

"Hey, Elle?" Tralesha said as she finished a sip of her ale. "Are you waiting here for some specific reason? Because we'd really rather take this conversation elsewhere."

It was easy to see that they didn't like Tarkin as well. And knowing that she could trust Tralesha and Gort she knew that perhaps she could trust Raxis and the other as well. "I just came here to get a drink really... If you think we ought to talk somewhere else just lead the way." She nodded.

"Well we have a ton of alcohol at the pad, so we'll just have our reunion party there, eh?" Tralesha said with a grin, grabbing Raxis' hand and leading him out of the booth. "It's a couple of blocks away but it beats the hell out of the noise."

Gort and Ronan merely exchanged glances with lifted eyebrows, before rising and following after Tralesha.

Ellemiek got up after them and headed out. Once they were outside she walked by Gort's side. "You realise none of you answered my question! I still don't know what you guys are doing here... Is it that secretive?" she asked with a slight frown.

"You still working for the same people we both did back in the day?" Gort said to her quietly as they walked. "It's not really anything secretive. It's just so hard to hold a conversation in Kappa's with all of that noise."

"Yes, I still work for the Alliance," she said. "But I was curious about you really... What are you guys doing on Tae'Karada? Certainly not vacations!"

The group turned a corner and stepped onto a repulsorlift. Gort leaned against the back window of the lift as the rest of the group stared towards the front of the elevator. He turned to Ellemiek and smiled.

"Well there's a ton of work to be had here, Elle. Besides, Tralesha hasn't let us leave since we found Raxis again," he said with a blank face. "Are you here on official business? I doubt you're vacationing as well."

"Like I said, I'm here because so is Tarkin. We want to know how things run around here. I for one believe the best way to attack him would be from the inside. He would expect us to attack with a full armada but what about terrain troops?" she said. "But to do so we need to study this well. Myself plus a couple of others are here for that same purpose."

Gort nodded slowly as Raxis looked over his shoulder at Ellemiek suspiciously for a second.

"Any leads?" Gort asked.

Ellemiek saw as Raxis looked suspiciously at her. She frowned and pushed the button to stop the elevator and turned to Tralesha. "Ok, what is this shit?! You avoid all my questions and ask me a hell of a lot of them! What are you guys up to? Joined Tarkin is that it?! C'mon I think I deserve I an explanation here! You've known me for a hell of a long time, and this is the treatment I get?!"

Tralesha looked over to Raxis and the two entered a stare for what felt like hours. Escaping the conversation, Gort and Ronan stepped to the side and rested their eyes on the three of them from the back of the elevator.

Tralesha nodded at Raxis and smiled softly. "It's okay...she's cool."

Raxis nodded and turned to Ellemiek with a smile. "Not here, ma'am. We'll finish this conversation in our room. The walls have ears on this planet."

Coldly, Raxis thumbed the elevator back on, and the lift continued for a moment before halting on floor number twelve. Ronan and Gort stepped into the hallway first, and made their way to a nearby room as Raxis and Tralesha followed. Smiling warmly at Ellemiek, Tralesha held her door card to the scanner and urged her to enter as the doors hissed open.

"You're going to want to hear this, Elle," Tralesha said, holding the door open for her.

Ellemiek entered and stared at Tralesha first and then at Raxis. "Okay, let's hear it... What the hell is so big that you can't trust an old friend?" she asked as she leaned against the back of a chair. Tralesha smiled and pulled a small pendant out of her jacket and tossed it to Ellemiek. The pendant was of a small red dragon.

"Republic's looking for insiders," Tralesha said as Raxis threw his jacket onto the sofa and scratched the stormtrooper logo on his arm.

Ellemiek looked at the pendant. "What's this? What's the Red Dragon mean?" she asked as she turned. She then saw Raxis' tattoo. Resting her hand above her blaster she tilted her head inquisitively. "You a stormtrooper, Raxis?"

"Don't bother, I'm former," Raxis said, not even phased by her move as he lit up a new cigarra. "Haven't you even watched the news or the holoscans? The Red Dragons are a cadre of vigilantes that have decided to make a stand against widowmaking crimelords and the Empire here on Tae'Karada. We're a few of their representatives."

"Sorry..." Ellemiek said as she let the hand off the blaster gun. "I didn't know. Only been here for a couple of days still." She then looked at Gort. "So you have been up to important stuff..." she smiled. "I guess our goal is the same then. We ought to work with each other."

"Well old friends or not, are you here working officially for the Republic? What's their plan?" Raxis said, reclining back in his chair at the table. Tralesha moved to sit on one of the sofas with Gort and Ronan, motioning for Ellemiek to sit and talk with Raxis. "He's the man to talk to about that, hun," Tralesha said, resting back into the soft plush of the loveseat.

Ellemiek took a seat also and looked at them all. With a nod she began. "Ok, because I know you guys, I trust I can confide in you. When we got to Coruscant it was empty. The former Imperials had all gone after the news of Emperor Palpatine's death. There was one man there though. A messenger. He delivered a message and then killed himself. He warned us that a New Empire was forming. Tarkin named himself Grand Admiral and I am afraid his goals are just as grandiose as the old Empire."

She got up and took a couple of steps towards the window. "Already does he command many outposts and has many bases in strategic locations, but his main base of operations is here on Tae'Karada. I volunteered to come disguised as a commerce business freighter captain along with a small crew to learn how Tarkin runs things here. I am to report to Rear Admiral Tallen and get a plan of action ready. Alas, Tarkin has closed all outgoing ships and we lost our clearance to leave until further notice. I don't want to risk long distance communication because it might give away our location," she explained.

Ellemiek turned around to face them again. "I have found him to have less influence here in New Plouton which is more fought over by the crimelords. I was hoping that I could slowly get a full squad here and surprise attack Tarkin with a ground attack but I still don't know the chances on that one. I already have some support by Tregat. I was hoping to have yours too..."

"Well a squad would be an easy thing," Raxis said, motioning to the chair in front of him. "We're in for the long haul but all the crime lords are going to do is make this more complicated than good. You're going to need informants at the docking bays and saboteurs if you want to take down Tarkin."

Ellemiek sat down on the chair Raxis had motioned to and looked deep into his eyes. He was right. "I guess money still talks high these days. I guess I can get some help from Tregat and his ships to get us in and out. The hard part will be to get informants from within the palace."

Raxis and Ellemiek entered a staredown, and Raxis kept his face deathly calm as he continued their bartering. "If you want more rebel soldiers here you'll have to smuggle them in. Perhaps this Tregat could do so with the aid of Gort and Tralesha," Raxis said, taking a long drag off of the cigarra. "You, my friend, are going to need ground forces and that means recruiting. We're already under observation and the Empire has moved their satellites to watch out for us...so we'll have to move underground. If you're able to get more rebel footsoldiers here, I'll set up a base camp under the city so that we'll all have somewhere to hide. I do, however, request that you do not discuss this with Tregat until I have the chance to meet him."

"Of course," Ellemiek nodded in agreement. "However, I still need to discuss these matters with my superior officer. Perhaps it would be in your interest to meet with him as well, although I am still in need of a way to contact him that is free of being traced. I would use a New Republic code but the message may still be intercepted and traced although ultimately not decoded by Grand Admiral Tarkin's forces."

Raxis turned to look at Ronan, nodding his head slowly.

"Well if you want to keep things clear and secure we could all head out to unoccupied space and send it from a freighter," Ronan spoke up as he exhaled cigarra smoke from his lips. "We'd just have to pick up a shipment of some kind of commodity and come back with it to make it look like we went on a shipping run."

"I thought about that, but, like I said, my permit expired..." she said raising her eyebrows. "I was hoping that Mr. Tregat could get me a new one in his name. Or perhaps you know where we can get them?"

"I have one," Tralesha said with a grin. "Simple as pie, don't you think?"

Ellemiek smiled at Tralesha and nodded. "Okay then, let's do this!" she said getting up. "You guys ready? I say we lose no time..."

Grabbing their coats and their gear, the Dragons assembled and left the confines of the small hotel room. They made their way through the vast marketplace of New Plouton, weaving through the amassed spacers and merchants as they silently marched to the nearest docking bay. Raxis, in particular, had an odd grace about him as he seemed to never clip or jar the crowd as he walked...it was as if they were either moving out of his way or he was simply graceful enough to move in just the right manner to avoid collision. After nearly half an hour, the group came to stop in front of a large docking bay containing a large YT-2000 Corellian freighter.

Tralesha thumbed her security lock and opened the access hatch, waving Raxis, Ronan, and Ellemiek inside. "Gort and I have some prep work to do, you three get acquainted and go over what you need to do. It'll be about ten minutes," Tralesha said, grabbing her toolkit as she tied her hair into a tight ponytail and disappeared under the ship.

Ellemiek entered the ship after Raxis and Gort and sat in the cockpit. She took her coat off and let it hang loose in her lap. "Here are the coordinates we need to follow. Last time I got a message from my New Republic superior officers they had a fleet in the system but had to retreat to a nearby nebula due to Tarkin's forces," she said as she handed over a padd. "Once we are nearby I'll clear us with my access code."

"Sounds fairly standard," Raxis said with a coy grin as he lowered himself into his chair and grabbed the datapad from her. "Computer, load pre-flight diagnostic and initialize astrogation mods one and two." He sighed and set the datapad on the top of the console and leaned back in his chair, scratching at his tattoo. "This is gonna take a couple of hours to get to the location. Are we actually supposed to be going to the fleet?"

"I thought perhaps you would like to meet with Admiral Tallen personally. The nebula is not too far off. But if you prefer we may merely hail them, of course," she said.

"Well," Raxis said with a nod. "Then you're probably going to want to hail them first and let them know I'm former Empire. You almost drew on me, remember?"

She had to frown a bit. If life had taught her an important lesson it was that one had to be cautious at all times. But then again, what were the chances of one man doing harm against a whole fleet? "Of course. Once we're on free space I'll hail them and clear that out... Whenever you're ready to go..."

"We're good to go..." Tralesha called as she and Gort filed into their seats in the cockpit. Within moments the ship raised out of its bay, and soared upwards towards the atmosphere of Tae'Karada.

"Co-ords plotted and locked into A-gate computer, solution reached," Gort muttered to Tralesha.

Tralesha winked and leaned over in her chair to brush her lips over Raxis'. "Good, looks like we're not going to fly through a giant rock on our way there..."

With a grin, she engaged the hyperdrive as the ship flung itself through space.

Hours passed. Raxis and Gort were napping silently at their stations with their dusty boots raised onto each other's crew chairs for footrests when the signal for exit from hyperspace was called. Tralesha raised herself up from Raxis' lap and thumbed the klaxon off, and turned off the hyperdrive with a yawn.

"Ellemiek," Tralesha's voice called throughout the hull of the ship and into the speaker above the lounge. "We're ready for your transmission."

Ellemiek had merely dozed for a couple of minutes in the whole trip and was already awake when the signal to go sub-light speed sounded. She got to the cockpit and opened a communications channel to the fleet up ahead. "This is Commander Ellemiek Vermolen, Black Hawks Squadron leader, requesting to approach fleet and board Mothership. I have with me five individuals, all friendly, none from the New Republic," she said as she looked to Raxis and nodded. "One of them is former Stormtrooper..." she said over the comm. "Sending the clearance codes now..." she finalized as she inputted her clearance number.

"They're gonna hang you," Ronan teased and swatted Raxis' arm as the crew erupted in a series of giggles.

Raxis blushed and lit a cigarra, threatening to throw it at Ronan. "Watch out, you queen, or else I'll burn the symbol into the back of your head so all your boyfriends will see it," he said with a laugh as the four of them began to tease each other while waiting for the return signal. Tralesha slugged Raxis in the arm playfully, telling him to play nicely.

"Copy," a voice suddenly filled their speakers. "Come to these coordinates and stand by."

"Very well..." Ellemiek said over the comm as she turned to Tralesha and nodded.

The Dragons were shrouded in silence as their chuckles died sharply. Raxis gave a soft nod to Tralesha and she brought her chair up to the controls. "Ok, here we go," she muttered and placed the flight controls in her soft, gentle hands.

As the freighter came to the coordinates that were transmitted to it, it came closer and closer to the nebula. Soon it was on its outer fringes.

"Sithspit...that's a huge ship," Gort exclaimed dryly, looking over it on his monitor. "Where can I get one of those?"

Without warning, the huge twelve kilometer long form of a Super Star Destroyer slipped out of the bright orange and pink mist in front of them. The forms of several Mon Calamari vessels, one of them over two kilometers long, also appeared beside the SSD, and several Star Destroyer forms as well.

"Roger, Black Hawks Squadron Leader," came the same voice again over the comm. "Cleared to proceed to aft docking bay three. Do not stray from your designated course or you will be fired upon."

"Does it honestly think we'd be dumb enough to try anything?" Ronan said under his breath.

"Understood, Mothership," Ellemiek said over the comm simply as she readied herself to meet her superior officer. It had just occurred to her that she wasn't in her uniform, but then again she was supposed to be on an undercover mission on Tae'Karada anyway. As the freighter entered the docking bay, massive as it was, Ellemiek reminded herself that this was in fact the smallest bay on the ship.

It touched down, and staring through the viewports, they discovered several squadrons of New Republic troops training blaster rifles and pistols at them. There were also four E-Web Heavy Repeating Blasters on both sides of the bay, pointed directly at them. Standing in between all of it was a single, rather tall man in a New Republic admiral's uniform.

Ellemiek got up and looked to the others as they had reached the bay and were ready to go out. "Don't worry, it's just protocol..." she said pointing to the guards outside. "Because of Raxis and you guys being from the outside. It's safe though, trust me..." she said as she started to head outside.

With a sigh, the Dragons stood and placed their blasters on their consoles and shrugged on their coats. Raxis had pulled throwing knives and a small hold out blaster from his boot, unattached his utility belt, and placed his gloves on the console before him. His face was as cold as carbonite, but it was obvious that he was unnaturally nervous.

"It'll be okay," Tralesha said, kissing him softly and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Things are different now."

Raxis raised his boot to the console and buckled it down tightly and stretched his shoulders in a rounding motion as his fellow Red Dragons watched.

"Okay let's do this," he muttered, and swayed past them to walk behind Ellemiek down the ramp and into the belly of the New Republic's giant flagship.

Descending from the ramps Ellemiek walked over to her superior officer. "Admiral Tallen, sir," she saluted perfectly. "Commander Vermolen reporting. The others with me are allies to our cause. They are currently unarmed. I have worked with them previously, sir." She nodded as the others stood behind her. "They are in our files as they have provided us before."

Rear Admiral Tallen looked the group over. "I see," he said, eyeing their belts. He smiled realizing they had disarmed themselves. He looked to either side of him at the two squadrons of New Republic marines and yelled, "At ease, marines. You are dismissed."

With that, the squadrons of marines simply got up and quickly filed out of the bay. The only ones left were now the Dragons, Ellemiek, Tallen, and a few maintenance workers that were working on several A-Wing fighters off to their left.

The admiral smiled again. "Thank you for bearing through that. Now, what brings you out of cover and all the way out here?"

"Well sir, I have come to report that Tarkin is mostly concentrating on the region nearer to the palace and in the planet's outside space area, although he has also instated a curfew recently in New Plouton. The best way to act would be through New Plouton, but I must warn you beforehand that Tarkin's forces are strong in Arcadia and it will not be easy," she reported then looking back to Raxis and nodding. "The Red Dragons, sir, know the area well and already do we fight for the same cause. Raxis?" she asked in the end waiting for him to intervene.

"We've," Raxis began as he sized up the Admiral, "already taken the liberties of cleaning some of the crimelords off of the street. In response, Tarkin placed the curfew, but we've got a fairly strong pulse of who's with us down on the planet." Raxis thought quietly of his friendship with the Jedi order, and carefully filed the thoughts of them into the back of his mind. It was not the time, nor his right, to bring their existence to knowledge.

"I see. Even if the entire planet was with us, we could not act," the admiral said, stroking the slight stubble on his cheeks with his right hand and folding the other across his chest.

Ellemiek frowned. "Then what are our options, sir?" She hadn't expected Tarkin's forces to be so well positioned but, then again, he was well known for his battle strategies. She hoped the Admiral had something planned up ahead.

"Come, I will show you."

They followed the admiral down a long corridor. A very long corridor. Eventually they reached a turbo-lift, which was larger than a normal one and they all managed to fit into it.

Jason walked up to the console on the right of the door. On it were the numbers one through nine and a zero, along with an enter key. Above the number pad was a small, one inch by four inch screen. Jason pressed the number one and then pressed the enter key. The screen flashed to a one and, as soon as the enter key was pressed, fleshed a message in red: "WARNING: Secure Area."

Jason pressed the number four, then the number five, then the number six, then the number five, then the number six, and then the number seven. He hit the enter key again. The warning flashed off followed by the message: "En route. Please wait."

The turbo-lift doors suddenly closed and, with only the slight feeling of motion, it sped off to its destination.

Jason turned to his guests. "Security is quite tight here," he said. When a few of the Red Dragons gave him some querying looks and even one raised eyebrow, Jason smiled and commented, "Don't worry, the security codes are changed every eight hours..." He paused. "Or whenever a security breach is suspected." They quickly made their way to deck one, the top of the tower section onboard the Super Star Destroyer.

On their way, Jason gave them a quick summary on the ship. "Admiral Ackbar was quite influential with the modifications the New Republic made to this ship. The reactors have been greatly improved and the shields have been replaced with the more advanced and more powerful, yet smaller Mon Calamari shield generators. The Lusankya is also equipped with a triple redundant shield system, meaning that after a section of the primary shields is knocked out by heavy fire, a secondary shield generator kicks in. After that, a third one. This, combined with the more powerful Mon Cal shields, give her about eight times the original shield strength. Along with the shields and reactors, she also carries about a hundred more weapons, overall, then the standard SSD. We also have the only New Republic TIE fighter force onboard, a squadron of TIE Defenders, one of the most advanced fighters, and cost expensive, ever produced. Luckily for us, the Imps picked up on the tab, and the pilots defected. We also have an additional twenty-two squadrons, for a grand total of around 260 fighters, along with just over 100 support craft. The fighters range from X-Wings to Z-95s to the newest E-Wings, while the support craft range from the medium sized Lambda Class shuttle to the large Sentinel class landing craft and the GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat. Any questions?"

Ellemiek was somewhat surprised that the Imperials had let an SSD with all the inner ships unused and ready for pickup by anyone who wanted them. But things like this happened in wars, unexpected things. She raised her eyebrow at the Admiral's question. "No questions, just a little bit surprised. Maybe we could use the TIE squadrons against them. After all, they could serve as a key element for a surprise attack. We'd sure have better chances at getting closer and doing a distraction manoeuvre. I could train my team..." she offered.

The turbo-lift doors opened and they stepped out into the massive bridge area. They were on the upper deck, which was in essence a giant balcony, centered around a comfortable looking command chair, with many walkways stretching out for several feet to viewports and computer displays that seemed to be everywhere, and at least every other one was manned by a person in a New Republic uniform. Between the skinny walkways and below the balcony, was deck 2. Deck 2 was where most of the bridge functions took place and speakers were planted throughout the lower bridge deck, and microphones the upper, so the entire bridge crew heard the captain's orders. If the captain yelled, as sometimes happened in a combat situation, the microphones automatically turned off, so as not to amplify the yell and make most of the bridge crew go deaf.

Jason lead them over one of the walkways to a door to their left.

Ellemiek wondered where they were being taken to. She turned to Tralesha and smiled vainly as if trying to give confidence that it had been a good thing to come visit the Admiral personally. But the truth was she didn't know where they were being taken either.

They entered a large conference room, with a long polished oak table. Luxurious chairs surrounded the entire length of the table, making room for two dozen people if necessary. "Please, gentlemen and ladies, sit."

Before sitting Ellemiek crossed her arms. "Permission to speak freely, sir? I don't see why we had to fall back. We seem to overpower Grand Admiral Tarkin's forces or at least level it up. I mean with the new improved shields and all..." she said, only to be cut off by Tallen who raised a hand.

"Now, this is why we cannot invade." He pressed a button on the wall right behind the table end where there was a slightly taller, and dark colored chair. It was black, while the rest of the leather chairs were grey. On either side of the table, two large, twenty-two inch display screens suddenly came to life. On both was a picture of the Super Star Destroyer Nemesis, taken from long range by a passing freighter.

"We managed to obtain this from a tourist making his way to the planet. Here." He pointed to the front bow of the ship, which was cut off and flat. Instead of the normal, "dagger point" most Super Star Destroyers had, this one was cut off. "Tarkin has cut the point off his Super Star Destroyer."

"What does this mean?" she asked as she hoped she was wrong. Deep inside she knew this could only be some kind of a concealed weapon. But what kind of weapon could take the point off an SSD? "What are we looking at here, sir? Concealed weapon surely..." she said.

"He's installed a superlaser," Jason said, waiting for the comment to sink in. "Its not powerful enough to destroy a planet, but it can crack the surface of one, rendering it uninhabitable at best, and it is powerful enough to vaporize half of this ship, even with our immense shielding capabilities. Not to mention what it can do to one of our smaller Mon Cal warships..."

Frowning she sighed. "Can we be sure about this info on the Nemesis? And what range does it have, and how long would it take between firing shots from it? Does it give a weak point on the Nemesis?"

"The only spy that we could get close to the cannon died a few hours after he gave us what information we have so far. The cannon can fire at estimated intervals of ten minutes. So, we'd have to orchestrate a plan to get Tarkin to fire the cannon, and then we'd have ten minutes to move in and take out or capture his ship. And to get to his ship, we'd have to break through a screen of Imp stars and other cruisers, unless we can catch him off-guard. Now, my science department has suggested we somehow get Tarkin to fire the cannon into this nebula. It doesn't appear to be at first, but after detailed examination of this nebula, we found that the center of it is made of a previously undiscovered gas that reflects all known laser weapons. So if he were to fire into the nebula, thereby hitting this gas..."

"It would be reflected right back at him," Raxis said.

"Exactly," Jason said, turning the display screen off. "Another proposed plan would be to insert a commando-type team onto Tarkin's ship, with the sole purpose of at least temporarily disabling the superlaser. Getting in would probably be easy, getting to the superlaser would be a bit harder, and the really tough part would be getting out. I'm sorry to say it, but it looks like a suicide mission," Jason said, looking down at the table.

"I'm not sure that would work. Security seems rather uptight there. I think it's a helluva lot easier to get him to fire against the nebula. And we can't be too sure if that would work, but it's worth a shot. But we still need a diversion, and we have to make sure that he does fire at the center of the nebula," Ellemiek said. "Meanwhile, we could get a team on the surface and storm the palace amidst the confusion. The Grand Admiral shouldn't be there at the time which will work for our advantage."

"That idea would work a lot better," Raxis began, sliding into a chair and putting his heavy boots on the table. "And as for any storming of palaces...we've located a series of underground tunnels beneath the major city with a plethora of large unused corridors that could easily hide an invasion force. I say we smuggle troops in and gather an army underneath the city, and then cause a diversion to lower attention to the palace."

Gort and Raxis turned to look each other for a moment, and Raxis gave a slow nod before continuing after their silent communication of innuendos.

"We have some allies planetside as well and support amongst some of the resident population. Once you add together the Dragons, the New Republic, the citizens that are willing to fight, and some newly acquired allies of ours we'd have a hefty group of commandos. Needless to say, though, we wouldn't have anything that could stand up to an AT-AT," Raxis finished, exhaling a small ring of smoke into the air.

"If the crimelords aided the Empire..." Gort said, nodding off and staring at the image of the ship on the holoscreen. "Who's to say the ground forces wouldn't have to deal with the hundreds of bounty hunters and mercenaries getting involved with the fighting? Who knows what kinds of benefits the Empire has given those types for either finding the Dragons or completing their dirty work."

Ellemiek turned to face Gort. "Well, you should know that all they want and care for is money. It's just a question of who pays the larger amount. If we can call them off for even a short while we can do this. But there can be no mistakes. We'll never have another shot after this one..."

"I agree, we'll never get another shot," Jason said, turning the display off. "We have enough troops to take the Empire off the city I think. We have two troop ships, each filled with a hundred thousand soldiers, plus their equipment, and several other smaller transport vessels filled with other troops and equipment. It'll take t