Star Wars - Tales from the Outer Rim

"Old Associates"
By: Kalaira - Dethroned High Princess
Kylas Thoamis

Location: New Plouton, Tae'Karada
Date: Praeda 27, 4ABY

***

Kalaira entered the tavern as if she had no better place in the world to be. Her hood was up and she was cloaked. She doubted if anyone would recognize her dressed as a commoner, but she wasn't about to take any risks. She slipped into a table in the corner and ordered a drink. She made sure she could see the door and there was no way for anyone to get behind her. Three of her guards had entered ahead of her and were scattered about the room. Two more had filtered in behind her and moved to mingle about.

Kylas wandered through New Plouton. "Gods, I hate cities," he muttered to himself from under his hood. He found the bar from which he was to meet the High Princess. He kept his black cloak pulled tightly around him and he walked into the bar. His eyes scanned the room as he walked to the bar. He ordered a drink and looked around. He kept an eye on several large men, too straight backed to be commoners... Soldiers, he thought as he walked to the back. He noticed the hooded woman. "An interesting night," he spoke as he approached her.

"More interesting than some," she answered quietly and took a sip of her drink as he sat down. "I did not expect to see you. It is too dangerous for the princess to be anywhere near here."

"The princess may have information I need." He looked at her and sat down. "Where is Dargus?" he asked quietly.

"He is dead," Kalaira answered. "He and his wife died during the occupation."

"She perhaps, but not he," he replied. "They took Elisia, and the only other person who knew her whereabouts was you," he replied, his eyes narrowed.

"It has to be someone else, my friend. A ghost could not have taken her. There is no way he survived that blast. They would have known. It must be someone from the Empire, we know they were seeking her before." Kalaira could not believe that Dargus was alive. That thought scared her more than Tarkin did.

"The Empire would not have found us, and your little spy, Blair, was the only other person who has seen my world. If it is the Empire, tell me where I can find this Tarkin and I will have his head." His voice turned cold.

"That won't get your padawan back," Kalaira answered reaching across the table to put her hand on his. "Do you have any clues at all? I mean, did you see anything?"

"No, but I can feel her here. I can feel him as well. Dargus is alive, and he wanted her. My padawan carries something of great importance to me, and I will have her and it back. And if Dargus truly lives, he has made a greater mistake than crossing the whole of the Empire."

"If Dargus is alive and Evie is dead, then Elisia is in grave danger. For what he wants from her, neither you nor I want to see occur," Kalaira answered quietly. She had known some of Dargus' plans and her talks with Evie had allowed her insight into a few others.

"Dargus' plans of Elisia carrying his child are impossible at this point," Kylas replied. "I'm going to find them, and I can sense her on this world. I can find her and I will kill him for harming her." He looked at her. "These people have suffered enough and there is another threat coming. Elisia and I are to wed, and anyone who can sense the living force can sense this man coming. He's a former Sith like myself, but has a profound sense of justice. But at the same time, his sense of justice is preverse." He looked at her.

Kalaira sighed. Things just kept complicating. "Thank you for the warning. I will make sure that his sense of justice has no need to turn our direction. I am sorry about Elisia, Kylas. I am concerned also. You said there was no way for Elisia to carry his child. What is to stop him from removing that impediment?" She took a deep breath. "And what if he turns her as was his original wish?"

"Because Elisia has the one thing in her that Dargus took from her: her own flesh and blood. She will protect it, and if I have I will tear this entire city upside down to find her. She has grown much and learned much; she is nearly ready to face her trials."

Kalaira thought for a long moment and decided she could trust Kylas. Her voice dropped even lower. "How did Elisia feel about Evie dying?"

"She was distraught; her only link to family was lost. All she ever wanted was to have family. And she lost her. Now that she has family again, she will do anything she can to protect it."

"I think I know why - if he lives - Dargus may have taken her. If he could offer her something she wanted bad enough, he may think it possible to turn her. Dargus is going to want revenge on the person who attacked him. If he can get Elisia to join him on that, they would be a formidable pair," Kalaira began, pausing to gauge his reaction.

Kylas' face remained blank and shadowed by his hood. "He's dead already; he just doesn't know it yet."

"Then you may be able to catch him when he goes for revenge but it will mean putting aside old rivalries," Kalaira said slowly. She wasn't sure Kylas could do that.

"I don't need to catch him, I know where she is. I came here to see if you are in league with him."

Kalaira sat back, surprised. "I would never align with Dargus, Kylas. I cannot even believe you would suspect that." Her voice held shock and reproof.

"You will forgive me, because I have had no reason to trust anyone. I was in your highness' service before the occupation. I was a little surprised that I was not contacted after you came back, that I had to find you before I could trust you again."

"I was not in a position to contact anyone until only recently," Kalaira answered. "My position here is unstable and I doubt my ability to succeed. Matters off planet seemed better off left in the good hands I assigned them." She sighed. "I have an important question for you, Kylas. If he does manage to turn her, do you think you can really bring her back? She wasn't the most stable person when I met her."

"Yes." His reply was simple and to the point.

Kalaira nodded. "Then I wish you speed and success. I cannot help you and I am not in league with him. I do not even believe he lives. It is better if he believes the same of me if he does."

"Very well. I hope you enjoy your drink and dinner this night." He smiled and stood up and nodded to her. He walked from the bar.

Kalaira watched him go and frowned. She was glad she had not told him of Kace. It was better, in the mood that man was in, that he not know who killed Evie. She took another drink and signaled her men. One by one, they all faded back into the night.

"New Mergers, Part 1"
By: Ithea Tass
Gars - Thysian NPC (played by Russ)

Date: Praeda 27, 4 ABY
Location: Yallder District, New Plouton

***

Ithea had sent her slaves out on various errands as she sat pouring over the statistical data that Tarkin had left her. She was beginning to see a slowly emerging ranging pattern. She circled the area she was sure the princess had to be within. It was too large to narrow down. This was like searching for Perrin beetle in its voluminous nest. She sighed. She began to look over the targets that the rebels had been hitting. Maybe she could predict their next target. The goddess had not been too forthcoming with visions of what was to come since she had arrived here.

A cheerful whistle echoed down the corridor, as a tall, dark-haired workman walked down the hall with his tool kit swinging in the air. "Good Day Madam." He smiled and nodded to a passerby. He strolled down the hall. "Ahh here's that faulty satcam relay." He knelt down and opened his tool kit; he pulled out the work order and looked it over. "Yessiree! This is it." He pulled out a hydrospanner and unscrewed the panel and opened it up. "Let's see...here's the problem."

He palmed a small device from his toolkit and pulled out another tool as well. "Okay, just check this over, run a new line here...." He began a maintenance cycle on the system putting it into diagnostic loop. "All right." He connected the device to the surveillance system with a logic bomb attached to the system; the diagnostic mode would run for a few hours easily before building security would be alerted to the malfunction.

He looked around. "No one." He looked and pulled his hat off and wig. He grabbed the side of his face and peeled the skin off and revealed his true face. He quickly shed the coveralls and pulled the real tools of his trade from the tool box and secured them to his belt. He then pulled a holstered blaster out of the tool box and placed the toolbox and clothes into the panel before securing it. He pulled the gloves off his hands and put them in his gunny sac and started down the hall. He rang one door chime. Nothing. He quickly went to work. He hardwired the locking mechanism, and within a few seconds let his security descrambler ID the right locking sequence. He entered it and the door to the apartments opened.

Ithea smiled. This man was not from any maintenance; she could sense the lie within him. She was dressed simply in a loose silk robe and her hair was loose and unbraided. She was not painted and she decided that deception would be interesting. She put a frightened look upon her face and peeked around the door. "I did not call anyone," she said, letting her voice tremble.

He holstered his blaster. "Bugger... Um...I'm sorry ma'am. Ain't no one was supposed to be here." He nodded.

"How did you get in? My door was locked," she said, stepping out. She had allowed her robe to remain tied only loosely, a good amount of flesh showing.

"Really? Hmm... I just hit the chime and the door opened." He nodded. "If I'm disturbing you I could come back later." He looked around. "There's a lot of other work I need to get done."

"You are not bothering me. Feel free to fix whatever you said was broken." She waited to see what he would do.

"All right, ma'am." He nodded and walked through to the next room up to one of the heating ducts. "Hmmm..." He walked up and held his hand over the casing to see if there was anything to palm on the way out. He noticed the datapadds. "Well that seems to be working." He walked over to the heating controls. He unfastened the small thermostat and fiddled with the induction module, setting it to increase the temperature by 10 degrees. He kept the panel open. "So you running a business, miss? Got yourself some good prospects for land there."

"You think? I am afraid I don't know enough about the areas I have marked yet," she answered curiously.

"Well if you're looking for a good place, you might want to scan for a lot of the old republic buildings. There should be a few ruins floating around all over hell's half acre in there." He closed the hatch and walked into the bathroom.

She followed him. "How do you know so much about these areas?" she asked more pointedly.

He started to fiddle around with the hot water pipes. "I'm from Tae'Karada. Nice place and all. Got your forests, your burning hot deserts - where I'm from. Got a lot of Republic here. The architecture is way different than today."

"So these ruins, they are not on the map?" she asked with interest.

"Not really, not for a good twenty years now. My grand-pa was a worker for the Old Kingdom when it was part of the Old Republic - a lot of history."

"I have had these areas scanned. No ruins showed on these scans." She walked to the table and got the information and brought it back to him. She looked at him with irritation as he fiddled with the pipe. "Oh quit pretending to fix what isn't broken and look at these."

He looked at her. "Well to start with, Imperial scans are geared towards power signatures, so think about this for a second. You fly over head with imperial fighters, scan an area... 'Oh look at that dense foliage we can't see through. No heat and no power... Big deal and waste of time'." He stood up. "Ruins are brick and stone, crumbling your science boys could mistake for caves, ordinary rock piles... It's not that hard to hide here. Why are you interested in these places?" he asked his curiosity peaked.

"I am looking for something that I know is in one of these areas," she answered evasively.

"Really? How much is it worth?" he asked again.

"A lot," she answered with a smile.

"Hmm... My memory is a bit faulty, I mean it's been years since I was there. I dunno if I can be of much help," he replied.

She smiled; she was familiar with this tactic. "Would 10,000 credits refresh your memory?"

"Hmm... I dunno. 10 000 is a lot. I would need to know what it's for," he replied. "I mean, if it's Imperial business, in my line of work association with the Empire is bad for business."

"I am collecting a bounty. I think my quarry is in one of these ruins you spoke of," she answered.

"Who's your bounty? From what I hear, there are a few here and I want no part of them," he replied. "You must understand I'm a loyalist."

Ithea frowned. "I think 10,000 and the fact I will not turn you in for breaking into my apartment should be all you need to know."

"For ten thousand, I might as well be staring down the barrel of an Imperial executioner's rifle. I don't betray my people, not for any cost. And as for turning me in, what makes you think your going to be able to?" he replied.

"What makes you think I can't?" she answered with a smile. She walked back into her bedroom with a laugh. "Come here," she commanded, emphasizing her command with the Goddess' gift.

He smiled and broke out laughing. "You're a mind witch aren't you?" He leaned on the doorframe and tapped his temple. "Have you ever heard of the Thysians?" He smiled, finding her command almost amusing.

Ithea frowned. "No." She was not pleased he had not obeyed.

"A Thysian is a little different than a human. We look very much alike, but our bones, blood, and brains are oh so very different, mind witch. From an isolated system we come, a long way away. We can't use the force; none of my people are sensitive to it. But by the same token, it does not touch our minds." He laughed. "What would you command of slave, you would have to ask me."

Ithea frowned even more. "I see. Well then, since you won't be bribed nor commanded, you may leave," she answered imperiously. She would find someone else to take her to these ruins. He couldn't be the only one who knew of them.

He laughed again. "Have I offended you, your highness? You're an even bigger puppet than you realize."

Ithea's temper flared. "Puppet? I am no puppet. You know not of what you speak." She moved toward her communication station to turn the upstart in.

"You can try all you want, your own signal will come back to you." He smirked. "The security grid is in a diagnostic mode, and will be for several hours. Comm, security cams, door locks, metal scanners...everything." He gave a small sniff.

She turned slowly to look at him. "Impressive," she acknowledged.

"Seems to me, you work for Imperial Intel, but these quarters are too large for one person. Your cover?" He looked at her and sat on the bed flipping through the data.

"I do not know what Imperial Intel is," she said, watching him closely. She was not afraid of him but she was annoyed she had not gotten her way.

"Really? Then who are you? That you would assume so much of a simple maintenance officer," he replied.

"I am a bounty hunter," she said more firmly. In this case, it was a truth.

"Oh cut the bull, anyone who was from normal space could tell you about the ruins. How come you don't know the legends?" He smirked. "And no bounty hunter would work in such close tandem with the empire."

"Because I am not from here. As for who I do or do not work for, that is none of your business." She walked over and jerked the datapad from his hand.

"I annoy you don't I." He smiled. "You're used to being the one with the upper hand." His grin grew larger.

"You could say that," she answered.

"I've encountered your people, dark one. No feelings, no emotions." He smirked; his smile took a crooked twist.

"Really? And where am I from?" she scoffed.

"Dushoulle. My people are explorers. Inquisitive, some were interested to see how slaves live. We are knowledge seekers." He smiled. "I have seen much of this galaxy. And am a simple wanderer."

Ithea was silent. She should have killed him and killed him now. Only Tarkin knew her identity as a nightwitch and she did not want anyone having that information. However, she was currently unarmed and he was not.

"I know that look, nightwitch. You have nothing to fear from me. Save for what I am, you feel threatened because of knowledge. You fear that your power does not work on me. You fear this feeling of weakness." He stood and walked up to her. "You'd do better to have an ally than an enemy in me, nightwitch." He walked around her like a cat stalking a mouse. He brushed his hand along her chin. She felt a small tingling, an almost electrical spark.

Ithea smacked his hand away from her. "I don't fear anything from a small time thief," she snapped. She pulled her robe closed and took a step backwards. "My people will be here momentarily. I suggest you leave."

"Really? Now I can smell your fear. Your people aren't coming are they?" He smiled. "Suddenly you are no longer the puppeteer and you flinch." He walked to a chair. "Let them come."

Ithea frowned. "What do you want to just go away?"

"I'm amused. Aren't you?" He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you find humor in the irony?" He smirked.

"What irony? I find it interesting that you came to rob my home and instead gave me the key to the puzzle I have been trying to solve for days." She glanced at the timekeeper and smiled. Zargon was usually quick at his task. Perhaps he would be here any minute.

"That you'll find nothing. There are dozens of ruins, with endless miles of catacombs there. Any scanners you could get would be useless to scan for heat in those depths. The irony of your attempt to command what is not yours and your attempt to seduce was most amusing."

"And I suppose you could do better?" she snapped.

"I don't know." He offered his hand.

She looked at him in confusion. "You don't know if you could find anything in the ruins?"

"Perhaps. Come. We will look at your data." His hand was still extended.

Ithea looked at his hand and frowned and then walked back to the data and sat down. She did not look up to see if he would join her.

He sat back with a casual smile and watched her.

Ithea found the map she was looking for and pushed it towards him. "The data I have gathered suggests that my quarry is within a five mile radius of here." She pointed to a circle she had drawn. "Are there ruins there?"

"No," he stated simply and tossed the padd back to her. "Your intelligence is wrong."

Ithea frowned and looked at it again. "It can't be."

"It is. You're after a rebel of some kind, correct?" He smirked.

"Maybe," she said, refusing to give him any more information.

"Do you really think that your quarry would leave you a neat trail of bread crumbs to follow?" He smiled.

"Trust me, I have had no neat trail to follow." She was beginning to hate this man. "Listen, if you want to help and earn the credits, I am all for that. If you don't, it is best you leave while you are alive enough to do so." Her words were not spoken with a harsh tone. To Ithea, they were just words of truth.

"Really? I don't think so." He stood up and walked over to her. "Why should I?"

Ithea stood up. "Because I would kill you," she said calmly.

"Would you? Show me." His grin broadened.

Ithea called her dagger to her. It flew across the room into her hand. Just as quickly as she had it, it flew at him.

The dagger struck him, blood flowed from the wound. His laugh echoed through the room, a mocking insulting laugh. He pulled the blade from his torso, its blade bent. He dropped it. "Any other tricks?"

Ithea's temper flared along with an inkling of fear, an emotion she was not used to nor that she liked. A statuette flew at him, its weight much more a factor than a small dagger.

He brought his arm up. The statuette impacted; the bruising was apparent. "Ouch." He walked forward and met her face to face. "Tell me what you feel." He smiled as he started to circle her again.

"A sister does not feel," she snapped. As she made sure her back was not to him. "Leave!" she commanded more firmly.

"Now I see a promising business venture. You want power don't you, sister? You don't feel, do you?" He held that last sentence. "What you serve is the darkness. What would you say to real power?" he asked. He kept circling her.

"It is strange. Since I came here, men keep offering me power. What is it that you all seem to want from me?" she answered softly.

"I want to show you power, destruction, pain, and suffering. All of them are mere shards of true power." He smiled and moved around her. "Power others offer is nothing like the power I can show you, darkwitch. Those ruins, some are Jedi temples, with much knowledge to be gleamed. Emotions are the greatest key to that power." His arm slowly snaked around her waist and pulled open her robe. "What is power?" he whispered in her ear. His hands smoothly moved across her stomach; electricity coursed through her, firing her nerves, but not with pain, but pleasure.

Ithea shivered. "Who are you really?" she whispered, his words holding her as much captive as his hands.

"My name has not been spoken for centuries, and in a world long since dead. I am as I said: a wanderer, a traveler. Where there is order, I bring chaos." His words softly echoed in her ear. "To give you this power, I want nothing more in return than to show you how to unlock it, how to embrace it. And then see you bring the kind of chaos the likes the universe has never known." His hands slowly moved across her skin, gently enticing new shocks of energy through her.

Ithea's desire for power was greater than both her common sense or her fear that he had not broken before her anger. "I find it hard to believe that one would gift another with such power and not just use it themselves," she finally managed to reason.

"As I do it simply because it amuses me, I want to see you manipulate the men of this small planet as they try to use you. You must keep wisdom about you, but know that I am an old man. Nothing more. I simply want to cause a little mischief before I pass on." He smiled at her. "But you have to learn how to embrace certain emotions before you can find and understand this." His left hand slowly moved up her torso between her breasts and gently cupped her jaw and lifted her chin, exposing her neck. He kissed her gently, letting the shocks of pleasure continue.

"Emotions are for the weak minded," she managed to force out. She used long used techniques to force the sensations of pleasure away but not before she gave away her reaction by shivering.

"No they aren't. Emotions are the key to true power. Emotions can over power simple mind tricks like the ones you are using." He smiled and gently kissed the side of her cheek and temple. His kisses suddenly started sending electrical fires straight through her brain. He let the shocks charge her, his hands gently settling on her breasts and massaging them heavily.

Ithea sagged against him, the pleasure more intense than her first experience not so long ago had been. Distrust suddenly flooded through her and she turned, shoving him away from her. She didn't pull and he flew away from her with a great deal of force. "You are attempting to trick me," she breathed heavily; her face was flushed with color, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of different signals.

"My people learned how to use our biological gift to manipulate the nerves and brain with electrical impulses. If I wanted to trick you, I would have simply broken down your mental barriers and forced your will. Instead, I want to show you what you can have. Your quarry's location would be a different location." He smiled and grabbed the datapad. He walked back to her. "Pleasure is an easy way to show you emotion. I could have used pain." He punched a few variables in and changed the data. "I'll help you, only if you let me help you." He smiled again.

"Agreed," she answered quickly. She wanted this life debt to Tarkin paid and she was more curious than she wanted to admit as to what this man was suggesting he could offer her.

"The ruins you seek are concentrated mostly...here. Your intelligence was more than thirty miles off. And it's a smaller area." He handed her the padd. "Now, time for me to show you what I meant." He offered his hand and pointed for the bathroom.

"New Mergers, Part 2"
By: Ithea Tass
Gars - Thysian NPC (played by Russ)

Date: Praeda 27, 4 ABY
Location: Yallder District, New Plouton

***

She looked at him puzzled but gave him her hand. She did not understand why he would wish her in the bathroom.

He led her into the bathroom. He drew a tub full of water. He turned back to her and walked around her and removed her robe, pulling it from her shoulders. "Now, look at the water and think of what you would want to do to it." He smiled.

"Do to it? The water?" She didn't want to do anything to the water.

"Such a lack of imagination. All right then, make it boil." He looked at her.

This Ithea knew. It was not so hard a task to speed up the essence of water. She focused her mind and soon had it boiling, steam rolling off the water.

"Good. Keep on that." He gently rested his hands on her shoulders. They started in slow, lazy circles rubbing into her skin, his hands stimulating her nerves again. He brushed her hair from the back of her neck and kissed her smooth skin and feathered kisses along her neck and licked lightly behind her ear.

Ithea had not risen to her position in the inner circle of Dushoulle by being distracted easily. She ignored the sensations he was creating for the most part and kept the water heated.

"You're missing the point. Lower those barriers and let the emotions draw you in. Become your surroundings." He turned her head. "Don't be distracted, but be aware of everything. Watch and feel." He kissed her deeply and let his tongue explore her mouth as his hands massaged her breasts heavily and pulled her close, pressing against her.

Ithea did not understand the point of this other than his gratification. She stepped back, breaking the kiss and losing concentration on the water as well. "I have never had the need to be aware of my surroundings with such intensity while opening myself to other sensations. I do not understand the point." She tilted her head and looked at him calmly. "Why should I trust that you are not just seeking to gratify your own needs of pleasure?" Her limited culture left little room for wider interpretations.

"The point is, your power is drawn from your mind. You deny your own true potential by this limitation. Your soul, your heart, your being are even stronger sources. Focus on the water, open yourself to your surroundings. Perhaps the gradual approach I sought will not be enough, Again," he commanded.

Ithea turned to the water and again started it boiling. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind, allowing herself to be aware of things around her as well.

"Now, hear the beating of your own heart. See it as the bubbles of the water move in the time with the beating of your own heart." He reached around her front again and placed his right directly over her sex, cupping her mound gently. He sent pulses of electricity through her as he caressed her steadily.

This was more difficult. She found that she could do as he requested but the effort was intensely difficult. She trembled as waves of pleasure shot through her.

"Stop using just your mind. You have so much power coursing through you now with pleasure. Use it," he whispered in her ear. His fingers gently parted her lower lips and caressed the warmth within. "Feel the growing emotions, the growing energy and focus it to the water."

Ithea gasped at his invasion. She did as he directed however, opening her mind more to the feelings of pleasure rocketing through her and yet she kept her focus on the pulsating water.

He smiled and he noticed the water boiling more rapidly. "Good. See it. Your emotions have added more untapped power within you. Feel its strength grow." He let his fingers find her small nub and with a skillful digit, manipulated her with but a single shock, and kept the small shocks pulsing through her.

Ithea grabbed hold of him, finding it hard to stand with what he was doing. The water hissed and bubbled with growing ferocity.

He continued. He could hear her heart beat. "Very good." He pushed her to the brink, the boiling water spilling over now. As she was about to break, he removed his hand and supported her carefully in his arms. He didn't let her reach her breaking point.

Ithea collapsed against him, trembling with pleasure and feeling a strange sense of power pulsating within her as well. She embraced it, took elation from it. She wanted more of it. She looked up at him in confusion.

"More?" He grinned. "Do you think you can handle feeling that power course through you?" He smiled. "How often have you been pleasured?" He raised his eyebrow with a crooked grin.

"I have been with another only one night," she answered. The door opened in the outer room and she glanced at it and frowned.

"Let us to your bedroom." He looked to the door. "Your slaves can wait?" he asked calmly.

"If I command them to," she answered hesitantly. "But Tarkin's man is one of them."

"Ahhhhh, then perhaps he can wait." He closed the bathroom door and smiled at her as he removed his shirt and knelt in front of her, pushing her against the wall. He held her legs open and kissed her softly and let his hands wander over her body. The sparks danced across her skin.

Ithea had been going to protest but any thought of doing so fled her mind almost immediately. She gasped at his touch that seemed like fire and ice all at the same time.

He smiled as he kissed her again deeply, his hands gently going to her breasts. His fingers smoothed over her nipples letting the waves pass through her and he pressed her body against her, pinning her to the wall and let energy from his exposed torso pour through her.

Ithea trembled violently, her body unused to pleasure in the first place, was unable to fully comprehend the sensations rocketing through her. She returned his kisses passionately, restrained sexual impulses exploding within her.

"What did this other teach you, or did you let your mind get in the way?" He smiled and caressed her face as he bent his neck and lifted her up to kiss across her collar bone and he started to kiss lower.

She smiled. "He showed me many things I was unfamiliar with. You have been quite enlightening so far for a thief," she teased.

"Really? Perhaps you could show me a few things you learned," he teased and raised an eyebrow. "You have no idea." He smiled and kissed down her body and gently assailed her breasts with kisses. He started sucking on her nipples and made loud noises. He nibbled on her buds as he looked at her with mischief in his eyes.

"I am more than willing to learn," she pointed out. She was not about to ask him to stop, for the sensations were intense.

He smiled and without warning drew a finger into her warmth and started to move about her sex, with small pulses firing through her. He continued to kiss and lick at her breasts. "What can you teach me is a more appropriate question."

"About pleasure, there is nothing I can teach you," she admitted, gasping from his invasion.

"You would be surprised what the novice can teach the more experienced." He smiled opened the door. "Think we can sneak through to the bedroom," he teased and tickled her lightly.

Ithea smiled and her bedroom door slammed shut. "They won't enter without permission." She turned to look at him.

He smiled and walked out. "Then show me what you learned from using your gift. You have emotions, now show me what you would do with them." He smiled.

"Pleasure and pain are not emotions," she pointed out. "They are sensations."

"Really? Pain is, pleasure is something else." He smirked.

She walked up to him thoughtfully. "I disagree. Pain and pleasure are one and the same. One can lead to the other." She traced a finger down his cheek and leaned up and kissed him gently. As she was withdrawing the kiss, she bit his lip, drawing blood.

"They are both the basis for emotions, pain is pleasure, pain is power." He smiled and pushed her back against the wall. He grabbed her shoulders and leaned in and bit her neck, soon sucking deeply at her neck and rubbing his hands deep into her muscles.

Ithea understood the concept of pain as power. It was a concept she was raised with, however, she was not used to being on the receiving end and was shocked at her own physical response to it.

"You learn different things. Your sect expects to be masters. That would be your key to claiming their power." He looked deeply into her eyes. He gently took hold of her hair and pulled her head exposing her neck. "They are perfectionists who are blinded by logic." He licked the entire length of her neck. "You have more power than that."

"I have more power? I don't understand how you can know that." She pulled his hair to pull him loose and kissed him passionately.

"I've seen it. To lose the kind of power you had a moment ago takes the greatest of mental ability to do, correct?" He turned her to the bed and gently laid her back on it. He moved nearby and picked up a candle and lit it.

"I am considered stronger than most on Dushoulle," she admitted.

"And to think how that power suddenly changed when you didn't have to force it, when it came naturally to you. With some work on your emotions that can work." He smiled and let the candle melt a bit. "You have to experience different things for your emotions to let loose from such a long held prison." He held the candle over her and let some wax run down between the valley of her breasts, his fingertips following the trail he left, lightly caressing her skin.

Ithea flinched at the heat of the wax but said nothing. She couldn't argue with his logic, it HAD gotten easier to use what he had released, but she didn't understand how that could be done without the stimulus he provided. "A prison?" she finally asked.

"Denying yourself the emotions you once had as any child would, to have it all forced down inside of you and bottled up, a prison of your own mind." He smiled and placed the candle down and leaned down and gently kissed along the trail where the wax had been. He kissed his way down her sensitive skin.

"I did not bottle up my emotions. I have felt lots of emotions. Hate is a chief one that comes to mind. Anger is another." She gasped as his touch lowered.

"Did you ever use them for yourself, or did you let your logic control you to the reasoning you needed or did you let emotion prevail?" He kissed her belly. He drew light circles over her hips and he kissed down her stomach and then lightly bit her to change the sensation.

"I have let emotions prevail," she said quietly, remembering more than one death that pure anger had caused in ways she could not even remember doing.

"Is that remorse I hear?" He looked up at her and lightly caressed her thighs and kissed at her navel.

Ithea laughed. "Remorse? Hardly! These emotions... The goddess teaches that to use emotions clouds judgment."

"It clouds your judgment, does it? Have you ever thought that it may give a clearer edge to what needs done?" He smiled and spread her legs wide and looked at her with thoughtful eyes. He smiled and gently drew his tongue into her warmth and let it remain where it lie as he let electrical sparks fly across his tongue to her.

Ithea arched up with a gasp. "No," she managed to say, not really wanting much conversation at the moment.

He smiled. "You're learning quickly." He rested his hands onto her belly and kissed her sex gently and sent small shocks to her. "What do you want?"

"You to finish what you started," she said impatiently.

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. He locked his mouth over her sex. He licked at her folds and let his tongue move like a snake. He let his current run though her in a steady flow now, not breaking contact with her skin and increasing the charge.

Ithea screeched as she arched off the bed. Pleasure shot through her with an intensity she hadn't thought possible. She gasped for breath, letting the pleasure seep into every aspect of her consciousness.

He grinned deeply, and flicked his tongue over her nub and locked his lips around her soft flesh. He sucked on it hard and let his lips vibrate against her and slowly increased the pressure until in one second he lightly bit her nub.

Ithea clutched at the sheets of the bed. Reason fled completely. She mentally pushed him away from her and sat up to look at him in shock for she had not even had to think to do it.

"Good, that was the answer I wanted. You have to be the one who sets the pace for your own emotions." He walked over to her. "I was in control. Wouldn't you like to try being in control?" He smiled and kissed her deeply.

Ithea wanted definitely to be in control. She nodded, unable yet to speak for small shivers of pleasure were still coursing through her. She held out a hand to pull him down beside her. She didn't ask, she just began to take, kissing a trail till she reached his waistband. She opened her mind trying to touch his, her hands opening his pants to give her access.

He smiled, though she tried to reach his mind. He couldn't open or close at will, simply he was a blank to telepaths. "Amazing how much you try." He grinned. "What else can you try and touch with your powers?"

Ithea smiled. "I do not know my limits. I have always been able to do what I wished except maybe read what you really are thinking." She trailed kisses down him as she removed his pants.

"You feel more in control to know exactly who I am." He smirked. "Sorry, the air of mystery has always been my favorite trick that I have." He gave a small laugh.

"I do not like what I do not understand or control," she admitted. She trailed her tongue slowly up his inner thigh.

"I am what I appear to be and more." He smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Very nice, very nice," he whispered and laid his head back and caressed the side of her face.

Ithea caressed and kissed around him, but never touched any part of his sexually aroused organ. She teased and blew but did not touch.

He let a small sigh escape. "You're enjoying the teasing now." He grinned to himself.

"I believe that one should be able to take what one gives," she taunted and slid slowly up his body.

"Yet what are you willing to give my dark one." he smiled at her and chuckled. "What price does the Princess of darkness find herself willing to give for her birthright?" He smiled.

"I have always given what the goddess demands for her gifts." She pressed herself against him, liking the feel of his naked body against hers.

"And what if you could be more powerful than your Goddess?" He smirked as he ran his hand across her neck sending sparks through her.

"I do not believe that is possible." She breathed in sharply. Her body pressed against his erection with a growing need. Her teeth nipped at the base of his throat.

"Good answer. Would hate to have your dark Goddess angered." He smiled and kissed along the other side of her neck and licked at her skin. He lightly nipped at her neck and along her ear. "What do you really want?" His hands moved across her back as he began rubbing her increasing moisture and his entire body started to spark against hers.

"I want you," she answered forthrightly. She pressed against his member, feeling it throb at the entrance of her mound. She could slide down him at any moment and yet she did not.

"How badly, one who can tease." He smiled. He pivoted his hips and let the tip of his member slowly move across her mound just inside her mound but not penetrating her.

"The question is, do you want me?" She was not so sure what he wanted.

"Yes, but I wanted to know what you needed first. No good trying to embark on a project unless you're sure of the commitment of your partner." He started to talk and stopped moving for a moment. "I mean, if you're really ready for what I have to offer I had to just make sure and get things straightened out first." As he finished his sentence he suddenly flashed against her body, the jolt of charge he sent through her as he joined with her was strong and forceful.

Ithea did not understand all that he said nor at the moment did she care. Her nails dug into his chest at the shock he sent through her body. Her gasp was audible enough that Zargon knocked on the door. "Mistress, are you all right?" he called softly.

He smiled and whispered. "Yes, are you all right mistress?" He started long and strong thrusts sending the shocks at the same intensity through her.

"Go away, Zargon," she managed to order. Her eyes were locked on his in wonder and disbelief. Her body was meeting his solidly.

"Your name?" He leaned up and kissed her deeply and hammered into her. He wasn't relenting in the sudden joining. His erection thrusted into her and he let the power surging through them grow.

"Ithea," she managed to whisper against his lips when he let her mouth go and then she kissed him again. Her hands tangled in his hair more for balance than from passion.

He smiled and pulled her head back. "Ithea," he said with a sly grin and pulled her head back and kissed her neck, nipping at her and sucking on her skin. His body flexed up to meet her;, it became more like a wild animal bucking to remove an unwanted rider.

Ithea had never felt such current flowing through her. Pleasure and power coursed through her in a way she did not recognize. Her body shuddered with pleasure each time she met his.

He smiled and rolled over. He used his hands to pin her above her head. The stranger pushed into her depths. He forced himself deeper and deeper, the electricity now firing through every nerve. He bent his neck and started to feast upon her breasts sucking and licking at them with a wild fervor.

Ithea struggled against his hold. Pleasure coursed through her and yet her nature did not handle being pinned down well. Yet the more she struggled, the more pleasure she felt.

He smirked and pulled one of her hands up and licked at her wrist. "You like?" He pinned her arm back down and strengthened his force and quickened his pace as much as he could.

"Let me go," she hissed and yet her moans only increased. Suddenly her body tensed as she arched up against him. Her eyes flew open in surprise as waves of pleasure washed over her, her cries of release evident to all in the next room.

"Then." He smiled and leaned against her, whispering in her ear as she screamed. "Feel the true depths of pleasure." In a blinding light his body turned to pure electricity and in one sudden moment her entered into her and melded right into her and sparked with her body in the moment of release for both of them.

The pleasure was so intense that Ithea felt as if her heart had stopped. Breath did not seem to come and the room swam around her. She had no idea what she had just mated with but she knew it transcended anything she had ever experienced.

The stranger withdrew from her and his body rematerialized atop of her. "Do you want this to be more?" He smiled and kissed her shocked lips.

She nodded 'yes', unable to speak. Her body tingled in a way that she knew she could never describe to another.

"Then it is done. I will teach what you need to know." He smiled at her. He sat up. "My name is Gars. I am as I told you, a Thysian." He trailed his fingers over her belly and sent the electrical tingles through her still. "We are a people without a world but have evolved from other creatures on what you call the outer rim. Things there are far more different than anything you have ever seen." He bent down and lightly flicked his tongue over her mound and sent another jolt through her before sitting up again. "Now tell me of yourself."

Ithea was still having troubles focusing thought. "I am second to the Nightqueen of Dushoulle. Or I was until she sent me here to die. Now, I am without coven until I can find a way to reunite and regain the strength to take back what is rightfully mine," she finally managed to volunteer.

"You are worried about what is yours, when you can return and make what you want all yours, to be Night Queen." He smiled. "And how is it you show your face to a stranger?"

"I did not know I was to have company," she pointed out. Her tone held a tinge of guilt.

"Hmm...what troubles you?" He looked at her expression.

"I have left. I have not used many of my coven's ways since coming here," she admitted.

"And that troubles. You limit yourself." He looked at her and gently rolled her onto her belly. He began to massage her shoulders. "One would think you were afraid of your sisters."

"I fear the Goddess' displeasure," she answered. She sighed with pleasure at his touch.

"The Goddess should fear her daughter who has learnt what she has." He smiled and caressed her back with his fingers, digging deep into her muscles.

"You speak in riddles," she accused. "Is it coincidence you are here or did you plan to break into my home?"

"I speak the truth." He smirked. "There is but a small line between coincidence and fate." He kissed her ear.

"Diversions and Tactics"
By: Ithea Tass
Gars - NPC
Kalaira Ardelyr-Valreth

Location: Yallder District, New Plouton
Date: Praeda 27, 4 ABY

***

Ithea awoke to find herself lying with the man who had invaded her apartment and proceeded to teach her of things she had not thought possible. She stretched and rose from the bed. "I must attend my slaves," she said. "I will have them fetch us food."

"No need. Better no one knows I am here." He smiled. "Before you summon them, if I may have a place to hide..." He smirked and gently took her hand before he phased into bright energy and passed into her, leaving a slightly tingling sensation.

Ithea shivered, finding the sensation discomforting. She moved to the door and opened it. All three slaves looked at her curiously. "Zargon, take the others and go and shop for clothing for yourselves. Your outfits displease me."

Zargon glanced past her, wondering who she entertained in such a manner when she had never done so before. "Yes, mistress," he finally said. Marius dragged his feet but finally followed Zargon out of the room. Ithea moved into the kitchen and fetched herself a bottle of wine and glasses.

In a bright flash he reappeared but he looked very pale. "Well, remind me not to do that again for awhile." He shook his head, "Sorry, lover." He kissed her gently. "So, what is the plan now?" He smiled and helped her with the glasses and wine. "You seem displeased."

"I must go and collect my bounty," she answered a little evasively, remembering his earlier answers. "When you...when you are in me that way...are you me?"

"No, not as such. I'm joined to you; you're in control. But I can come and go as I please. I have no abilities in that form," he replied. "I hope you will not abuse that."

"I do not abuse power," she said softly. "I harness it." She moved to the table, not bothering to dress, where her padds and maps were laid out. "You say you fight the empire. Why?"

"To cause chaos, because it amuses me." He sat across from her at the table. "I'll help you collect your bounty and clear your debt, but what happens to your bounty afterwards is not really your concern, is it?"

"No, it is not," she answered. "I promised to deliver her. I do not care what he does with her."

He smiled. "Excellent." He offered his hand to her. "Come sit with me. Your pensive look saddens me; I wish to see you happy and ready to cause what chaos and mischief you can with a smile on your face."

She took his hand as he wished. She did not know how she had suddenly ended up with a new mentor. She had not been seeking one. She sat down with him.

"Are you certain you are alright?" He smiled and gently massaged her back.

"I am," she said quietly. "I am just unaccustomed to another directing my actions, especially one of a masculine nature."

"Really? Is that so hard to accept? You have been following other people's orders so far. Should you be worried about me?" He smiled and pulled her legs into his lap. "Maybe you should relax a little more... Loosen up."

"My life here has not been what I am used to," she admitted. "I am not tense." In truth, she wasn't. She was just a little cautious.

"Ahh, then perhaps an issue of trust?" He looked at her. "Did you trust me enought to mate with?" He looked at her.

"Did we not just mate?" she answered with confusion. She did not consider that he meant more than to have joined with.

"Yes, but you are cautious of me now, when a moment ago, you gave yourself fully to my care. Why is that?" He grinned. "Is that where trust is, in bed and bed alone?"

"It was not a matter of trust," she answered with a blush.

"Wasn't it? A stranger in your home who could have killed you, but didn't. Someone who could have done great damage but didn't. Someone who could have controlled you, but didn't. It wasn't a matter of trust, was it?" He smiled and caressed her legs.

"Stupidity," she answered now that she thought about it.

He smiled. "Well, we can work on that. When do you wish to depart?" He tickled the bottom of her foot, the electrical prickles running across her skin. "Your ward must be captured soon."

"I can leave as soon as I have dressed," she answered, shivering at the memory of what those prickles could do to her.

"Someone liked that," he teased and gently carressed her calf again. "We do as you please." He smiled at her.

"Then I wish to have this task completed," she answered. She swung her feet out of her lap. "I will go prepare." She would not leave on this task without her makeup.

Gars stood and walked back to her bedroom and pulled his clothes back on. He stood for second. "Hmm..."--and walked off and returned ten minutes later with a new outfit on.

Ithea dressed in black. She braided her hair with long red ribbons. Slowly she painted her face white. Her eyes were lined with red. Her lips lined with black and painted red. Satisfied, she grinned and went and fetched her daggers. She stepped out of her bedroom and smiled at Gars. "I am ready."

"Excellent." He smiled. "And may I say most becoming of you." He walked over to her and kissed her deeply, pulling back and offered his arm. "Then shall we?" he said with a bright smile.

***

Ithea watched the guards on the walls. "There are a lot of guards. We will have to wait till it is darker," she said thoughtfully. She was not worried about the guards. She was capable of enshrouding her body and moving through the darkness.

Gars nodded. "As you wish." He sat on a fallen log nonchalantly caring little if he was discovered or not.

"You come with me to this place and yet you do not seem as if this interests you. What of the thief who sought his gold?" she teased.

"I found something that is worth much more." He grinned at her and looked at the guards. "And I will still want the money for helping you find this place." He smirked. "Or payment of another kind," he teased back.

She grinned. She moved over to him and sat down. "I think that you are not what you seem or just what you have shared with me. But I will not question for I have seen what you can do."

"I am what I said I am, a wanderer and a thief. I just happen to find amusment in the confusion of others and creating what chaos I can wherever I go." He smirked and tickled his fingers across her back, sending sparks through her.

She shivered at his touch. "I think I know what you are. My planet has a myth of the Avochnar. Creatures who thrive on the misfortune they can create in the wake. Horrible slaves and pests that are considered only worthy of extinction," she said more seriously, watching his reaction.

"Ahh yes, such is myth. You draw such open conclusions with myth has a direct tie to your diety." He smiled. "I thrive on energy, nothing more. My race are the ones of this galaxy who keep things interesting." He smiled.

She smiled. "I am going to go in and get her. What will you do?"

"Be your shadow." He smiled.

"I have a better idea, oh causer of chaos. Why don't you give me a diversion?" she said with a grin. "Earn your share of that money."

"Ah, very well my dark child." He smiled and stood, wandering up to the wall, phased into his energy form and moved along the vertical rock surface. A light flared up on the far wall drawing the attention of the wall gaurds. A commotion began and suddenly one of the guards fired at the energy form as it moved across the wall. It moved so swiftly that the guard on the left shot the guard on the far side.

Ithea grinned. She would have never thought of that. By one of their own shooting and hitting a guard, they would not be looking for an invader in their midst. Ithea enshrouded herself in darkness and moved into the temple quickly. It took her ten minutes to find the princess' rooms. She entered quietly where the princess slept.

Kalaira had been roused by the racket. She turned from the window when she heard her door open. In the darkness of the room she could see nothing. "Who is there?" she called.

Kalaira's blaster came up as she moved carefully into the center of the room. A sense of coldness sent shivers up her spine. She moved to the bed so it was pressed against her legs.

Ithea watched her prey with a smile. She climbed along the roof, loving her ability to crawl along such surfaces. Once above the princess, she waited quietly. When the princess was in a favorable position, she dropped down on her, slapping the blaster from her hand. Her other hand covering her mouth as they fell against the bed. Ithea's free hand immediately flew to her belt where she pulled a cloth she had doused and pressed it to the princess's struggling head. Kalaira went limp. Ithea gathered her up and ensrouded them both as she left the room once more. In less than twenty minutes, she deposited the princess on the ground where Gars had left her and looked around for him.

"Tsk tsk, do you suppose anyone is going to notice all those dead bodies?" He frowned as he looked around at the temple he had just exited. He had managed to activate the nerve impulses of the dead man temporarily. "They put an excellent fight against a dead man." He shook his head. "A pity."

"It will be noticed," Ithea said with a grin. "But it is not my problem. Come, let us take our treasure back to the city."

"Hmm...such a skinny lass." He smirked. "Pah! Whatever Tarkin would want with such a ...'righteous' creature is beyond me." He shook his head as they left for the city.