Prologue (completed)

[Captain Tohmahawk]

Midnight.

The huge star cruiser sat in space near it’s space dock, at present with little activity of tender ships and repair shuttles flitting about the area. The non human crew who were either assigned the dog watch or who were naturally nocturnal were the only beings awake and moving about, even then far fewer than normal. The cruiser had just returned from it’s maiden flight and was at present in dock to fix the many and varied faults that had been discovered. Not major, but there had been some design problems and as well some bad core programming. To be expected on this vast hulk of steel, a project of this vast scale had never been undertaken by the New Republic before and it was showing. 4 of the grav generators had failed, a turbolaser had exploded when test fired, taking out systems and crew around it, the hyperdrive hadn’t developed the expected speed and there had been some glitches like doors that refused to open and a space lock that was still burning due to a chemical mixup.

Not too major, but still annoying. The crew that couldn’t help with the repairs had been sent on leave for a few weeks and the officers were mainly planet side, enjoying the hospitality of their hosts below. In some places it was like a ghost ship, with only echoes to break the silence. In one of the half lit corridors, a single door could be seen, in between the pipes and cables. From inside, faints sounds could be heard from the solitary occupant.

Major General James T. Tohmahawk, Captain to most people, finished lacing up his boot, then took his foot off the crude bed, placed it on the floor. He stood straight and cursed as the old back injury flared up, sending bolts of pain through the spinal cord and his legs. He used a chair to steady himself, thought better and sat down, breathing deeply and willing the pain to go. The medics said he should be taking painkillers, but he always refused. There was other methods available, but they were even more distasteful to him, especially that option that he used to use, in a different time. No, definantly not that, hopefully never again. He could, with his position request healing from a Jedi, but he had a deep mistrust of just about all Force users now. Very few of them seem to be responsible with their power, more interested in getting pissed. Even the Sith were beyond explanation now. More like a bloody harem or brothel than the root of evil like they used to be and it did make him furious. There used to be a degree of honour and mutual respect in the warring Jedi and Sith, but those days seemed to be gone.

Gah. It was enough for one just to take the fleet and vapourise the various bases all these Force users were at. Morons. Maybe with Jyanis Scorpion and a few promising Jedi coming through, maybe things would turn around. Maybe not. Not his problem in the end, except when they got out of hand. Oh bloody hell, this hurt……

He gritted his teeth and waited the spasm out, eventually relaxing as the pain receded. His room was for most beings uncomfortably warm, but it helped keep the occasion pain bouts at bay. He tended to wear a heat pad when he wasn’t in here and so far no one else really knew the problems the injury caused. Then again, considering that the blaster had taken out several vertebrae and internal organs, he was glad he was alive at all. Artificial bones had been placed in service, along with vat grown organs to replace the damaged ones. At least he wasn’t pissing with the help of a bag like some other victim of huge injuries did and the spasms weren’t all that frequent. He could cope.

He got up, stretched, then picked up the two large carry bags that were on the bed. In one was a some clothes and personal items. The other, bigger and heavier, clanked as he grabbed it. It contained the majority of his weaponry, the guns he wore into battle. A noted handgun freak, he had some of the best and some that were decidedly unusual, including the black burnished rail guns he had holstered on his hips. These things were becoming the standard issue for the General’s troops as they had proven lethally good against Force users. Maybe they didn’t have the number of shots a blaster did, but one bullet from the rails could do a lot more damage, flew faster and were more accurate. He shouldered the bags, then picked up the wrapped 1 odd meter long bundle and the Remington up and under, a pellet gun that frankly couldn’t be beaten for short to mid range firing. Slow firing yes, but the sabot shells could blow a hole through hull steel and utterly impossible for a Jedi to stop.

Finished, he turned and went out the door, flicking the light off with the Remington’s barrel and locking the door behind him.

It was a fair walk to the hangar, but Tohmahawk was easily one of the most fit soldiers on board. He had a brutal exercise regime which drove him to pain at times, but his fitness and natural strength had saved him more than once and he gladly traded the inconvenience for continued survival. He walked through the blast doors and noted the temperature change of the air. Much colder, to be expected where only a magnetic seal separated the hangar from the vacuum of space. Also in the air were the smells of fuels and other exotic fluids that kept the war birds that were housed in this hangar working. He loved the smells, even if most others thought them noxious. There was just something about high performance fighters…

In one corner, sat one of the larger craft, a four wing, twin tail piece oversized freighter / fighter he had named Razor. From needle nose to the massive twin exhausts of the drives, it was every centimetre a beautifully designed and build weapon of war. It’s model was Mig29 Firefox, a most apt description. And with the resources Tohmahawk commanded, it had been upgraded and modified so much that it was now about the fastest thing at sublight seen, plus being able to go over .5 over lightspeed. From wing tip laser to the secondary ordinance chamber, it bristled menace. He approached it, shifting his luggage and placing it on a cargo lift that was at present dropped down from the belly of the craft, tapped the control to raise the lift and to seal that hatch. He turned and ran his hand along the silver metal surface.

“Sir, all ready to go, fuelled to go to the Core and armed to the teeth. The new missle racks have been tested and the primary shield retuned.”

Tohmahawk turned to see the maintenace tech, a grizzly older man that went by the name of Smokey. A right @#%$, but the best mechanic Tohmahawk ever had. Both men had mutual respect for each other and were in fact quite good friends. “How about the repulsorlifts? Those pieces of junk fixed as well?”

“Yeah, them too. New landing slids as well. Shouldn’t crap out on you this time Captain.”

“Better not, or I’ll rethink that order about not throwing you out the airlock. Any other modifications I should know about?”

“None at all Captain. Just regular tuning and a turboboost overhaul done. You should be able to run the motors to 5.5 bar without a hand grenade”

“5.5 bar? Not bad. Good work. Now get back to the hole you crawled from Smokey”

“Yeah, good luck to you too Captain. Hope you catch a disease from the whores” Tohmahawk laughed in reply, giving the mechanic a rude gesture, who just grinned and waved as he turned to walk away. The General walked around to the gang plank, valuted up and touched the close switch. The systems noted the action and secured the ship for flight.

The cockpit was designed for two people, but the ship could still be controlled by one person. He sat on the (noted it was reupholstered) chair, keyed in the security clearance then the startup. A whine began to start, growing in power and intensity as the motors warmed up. He waited till temperatures came up, then toggled for repulsorlifts. A quick bang, then the craft shook, lifted, hovered. People outside took note and scattered…….

He lifted enough, withdrew the landing skids, pressed the button that would sweep the wings back and then keyed for sublight. The exhausts began to glow, the ship moved and then with a huge blast of sound and flame, the Razor’s main drive ignited and blasted the craft straight out the hangar door. The flight twisted and the ion trail glowed fiercely as the General blasted for deep space and the first vacation he had for a long time.

He steered towards a service barge and with a blast ripped past the droogs, leaving the space bay pilots yelping and howling in indignation.

“YYYEEEEEHAH!!!!”

He accelerated to full power and sped out of sight, destination Coruscant.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Kessel had been all it had been promised to be. The woman looked out the viewport of the Chevvette57 freighter Wing of the Raven, and allowed herself a tiny, tired smile at the wisps of atmosphere that trailed off the barren planet. All I expected, and so much less. The fat Rybet that ran the spice installation had been more than welcoming, and very cunning.

It didn't take a genius to know that he hit the glit as often as not, and the woman had sidestepped his subtle traps easily. It was her first time smuggling spice for-

...for her employer. She did not allow herself the luxury of thinking the name. That name would get her in a frelling lot of trouble, no matter who picked her up.

I'm not going to get picked up. She looked away from Kessel and its garrison moon, and faced the real danger, the Maw and its hungry black holes. The Chevvette leaped forward, and the woman piloted the freighter as close to the Maw as she dared. She preferred to err on the side of saftey, as she had never come to Kessel before. Never smuggled spice before, because she detested the stuff. Aaron detested it.. She sighed, and concentrated on the ship.

The Wing of the Raven responded to her every command, and she distanced herself from the spice mines quickly. She wasn't going to be picked up, not by the New Republic, and not by the Empire. The newest diktat, Viscera, styled himself a Sith, and had put harsh penalties down for smuggling, but she and Aaron had never been caught.

Aaron was no longer with her, a fact that still pained her, but the woman was just as skillful at evading the authorities alone. The Maw streaked by her cockpit, colors swirling in the distance, and she made a rude hand gesture at it. Spice. How had it gotten so bad she had to smuggle spice?

"Arya," Aaron spoke in her mind’s ear, and the woman blocked the memory. Too painful, even now, three years later, and she only allowed herself to indulge in memories at night. Besides, she needed every sense available to keep the Chevvette away from the Maw.

The jump point approached, and she eased the freighter into hyperspace, the familiar starlines streaking by and swirling around the viewport. Arya pushed herself up from her seat, the crash webbing dangling off the sides, and strode to the back of the ship. The spice was in the hold underneath, burning a hole in her conscience.

Bah. She hardly had one anymore, figures that the only thing that would bring a profit these days was the one thing she hated. Walking into the refresher, Arya stared in the mirror, scrutinizing her appearance. Her hair was black, and cut short, raggedly framing a thin face with high cheekbones and light skin. As a child she had thought her skin was wrong it was so white. The Twi’lek girls she had played with in her youth had all been different shades of light green, and it had taken quite a bit of explaining from her mother to convince Arya she wasn’t a freak.

Arya reached over, turned on the sonic shower, and pulled off her spacers boots, wriggling her tired toes. The Rybet had walked her all over the installation, and she had grown weary after the first hallway. Not that her body was weak, far from it, her slim frame was strung together with hard muscles that spoke of years of exercise.

Stripping off her shirt and her pants, Arya inspected a bruise on the middle of her back, twisting around and peering at the mirror. It had darkened since the day before, and she grinned as she remembered the broken nose she’d given the man who’d gifted her with it. She flexed her fingers into a fist, and then stepped into the shower, sluicing off the dust of the spice mines.

After her shower, Arya, dressed comfortably in pants and blouse, rested in her pilot’s seat. The colored swirls of hyperspace comforted her as she relaxed. Coruscant was hours away still, and she was glad. That left her more time to herself, away from the crowds of beings that lived on the Core planet. After Aaron’s death, Arya simply did not enjoy the company of others, and any contact with senscients usually ended in a brawl. She shifted to avoid aggravating the bruise on her back, and kicked up her feet onto the co-pilot’s seat.

Bars she visited, and the dark beers she drank usually kept the timid males away. The not so timid ones she sent away, usually with some momento of the occasion. Like the broken nose two nights ago. Arya was not unattractive, although she would be the last person to say so. She stood five feet, six and a half inches tall, and had the athletic body at twenty seven that she had had at fifteen years.

Her mother had been slightly overweight, and Arya had vowed to never gain another pound, lest she end up the same way. So far she hadn’t. The death of her mother had been a shock, it had happened so suddenly there was nothing the medics on Ryloth could do for her, and Arya had been orphaned at seventeen. Her father had been a prince on some forgotten planet, and had been assassinated even as Arya had been in the womb. Her mother had spoken often of him, and Arya could see his strong and handsome face in her mind’s eye, but of pictures or holos there were none. The sole possession she had of her father’s was the royal seal of the Ravenwings, threaded onto a slim silver chain.

She never took it off. A pickpocket had tried to take it off her, and she had his hand pinned to the wall with her knife and his other arm broken before he could blink. No, he never did that again. As to her home planet… that was lost in the mists of her mother’s mind. Lysa Ravenwing had never remembered much about her life before the murder of her husband. She had escaped with her life, and with her wee babe, and her mind had not recovered. Still, Arya had led a peaceful childhood among the Twi’lek.

A loud beep interrupted her musings, and Arya sat up in her seat, reaching for the console. What now?

[Captain Tohmahawk]

One thing he would give that was enjoyable about the enforced quiet of hyperspace – it allowed you to be yourself, to let down your guard, to think and to sleep. A notorious insomniac, he had the ability to sleep for two or three hours a day and run like that for weeks without a problem. But eventually it caught up with him when enforced stillness was on him and he would sleep for days on end.

Nearly 4 days since the freighter / fighter had gone into hyperspace, he was still sleeping on the old but comfortable couch he had in the anteroom out side the cockpit. Further back was a gallery, a refresher with a very old fashioned hot water shower and the single bedroom that he had never used. For some reason it was always the couch and loose blanket, heater turned up as well. His face was dimly lit by the swirls of hyper space from the cockpit, adding an odd blueish tinge to the face.

It remained like that for several more minutes, then the General began to wake up. He opened his eyes to the darkened cabin, stretched painfully as unused muscles got blood back into them, then tossed the blanket onto the floor. Turning his head, he took a moment to work out what the time and date was from the battered chrono on the wall, before looking at the ceiling again. 4 days. No wonder he was feeling wooden, even for these sleep binges, that was a long time. Still, he was feeling brilliant as he always did after the extended rest. Hungry tho and in need if the refresher.

Half an hour later, he had cleaned up and eaten, still having the dregs of his tea as he sat at the nav computer, working out where his current position was. Not too bad, 10 hours out from Coruscant. He would most likely take another sleep and really hit the ground mobile and fresh. Coming as he did from a desert and heat blasted land with few people, these trips to Coruscant were fascinating, even just to remind himself why he hated crowds. Most likely he would stay for a few days, see the Chief of State, visit a few army friends, maybe even go see the latest weapons exhibition….

A loud screech and the Razor jerked viciously, sending Tohmahawk into the control panel and spilling his tea over his pants. He came up sputtering curses and frightingly angry at the sudden problem. But as he turned to the control board to examine what was the root cause, he paused and glanced out the windows. And saw his ship had reverted to real space. Seeing no alarm lights for the hyper drive, he set the scanners in motion, looking for the other possible cause of an unexpected reversion to real space.

It’s didn’t take long. Hanging in space not 80 km away was the shape of a New Republic Interdictor cruiser. Tohmahawk spat out yet more obscenities. Damnation and fires of Calan, what the frell were these amateurs doing firing up a grav well in a commercial space lane? He slammed a hand onto the comm. Unit, to hear the tail end of a order

“….. ship, you are ordered to shut down and prepare for trade customs officers”

Like frell he was!!

“Whoever you are, &^&! Off now. Do you understand?!?”

A pause before a rather tense voice replied. “Unidentified ship, we are New Republic customs Vessel Tracker and by NR law TA-1800, you are hereby requested to…”

“Yes yes, I know what the frell comes next. Except this time you turn this field off and leave me alone, understand”

The voice on the other end was getting angry too “Unidentified vessel, you are a suspected smuggler. Stand down your engines or be shot ob our fighters” Indeed, there was 4 X wings coming at him now.

“Tell your fighters to stand down you idiot, or else!”

“Or else what, unidentified craft? Comehere and spit on yes?” Tohmahwak could hear the self satisfied purr on the voice on the other end. “You will stand down engines now and receive boarding party!”

“What is your name and operating number?” snapped back Tohmahawk

“You have one more chance! Obey our request or be shot!”

Tohmahawk almost laughed out loud. Pulling the fangs of this snake was going to be glorious. “Under New Republic Military code AIX-OS-400, you are hereby charged with disobeying the order of a superior officer. Stand down now or be court martialled”

Silence from the other side. The X-Wings were close now, beginning to circle, no doubt waiting orders. Tohmahawk decided to turn the pressure up. “I say again, if you do not obey my orders, you will be court martialled. Do you understand, over!”

An new voice spoke. Female. “This is Captain Drecker of the New Republic Customs service. My operator here tells me you have a problem with being held for inspection and you have quoted a New Republic military code. Who is this and what do you hope to gain from this charade?”

Bingo. Time to really king hit this SOB’s. Tohmahawk only replied by sending his id code. The silence was telling. Even more telling was the sudden clearing out of the X-Wings, like mynocks with tails on fire. “New Republic Interdictor Cruiser, you are hereby ordered to turn your grav well off so I may leave. You have 1 minute to begin to comply. Do I make myself clear?”

The woman’s voice came back, crisp and with a hint of fear. “Yes General Tohmahawk, right now sir”

“Excellent. Tohmahawk out”. He watched the sensors as the field began to dissipate, the grav field diminishing. He reset the nav computer, computing the vectors and speeds to get to Coruscant. Very, very suddenly, the grav field came back to full strength and he saw the fighters turn back towards him. He nearly exploded in anger, slapping the arming circuits for shields and weapons, before looking at the sensor display. Suddenly he understood and in a flash fired up the sublights to full power to get out of the way of a freighter that had been jerked suddenly out of hyperspace. The General sighed. Well. Seems they wouldn’t be turning off the grav field for a while after all. He pointed the Razor towards the nearest grav free zone, deciding to get out of the way of whatever the frell was going to go on. Most likely the customs officers were going to take out their frustrations on the prep who had just arrived. Ah well, hopefully they got a live one there.

His eyes suddenly narrowed as a double beep announced itself on his console.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya cursed as Wing of the Raven reverted into real space with an ungainly jerk. Off balance, she crashed into the navigation console, her head rebounding off the transponder toggle. She slapped her hands down, pushing herself back up. Oh frell, spice! No time to think now.

She felt a warmth along her hairline above her forehead as she activated the transponder scrambler. The Chevvette57 now transmitted the ID The Lady of Ale, and Arya was scrambling to silence alarms. Frell, the hyperdrive’s out. Not that it mattered. If her sensors were correct, a grav field big enough to swallow an ISD surrounded her. Or even two. The New Republic’s symbol mocked her from the sides of the fighters that were approaching her.

She activated the sub light engines, and threw the freighter into a driving spin, away from the fighters that were swarming towards her. The comm squawked, "Stand down and prepare to be boarded by customs officials."

"Like hell I will!" She didn’t have time to toggle the comm back, so the NR missed her enlightening comment, and she punched for weapon’s control. Frell.

Weapon Systems Offline flashed on the display.

She banked starboard, and had to pull up into a shuddering ascent, barely avoiding another freighter the interdictor had pulled from space. The Razor, her mind’s eye told her as she fingered the cargo bay controls.

There was nothing she could do, her hyperdrive had been frelled, and there was no way she could gun down an Interdictor full of fighters, and make it to Coruscant before the spice ruined. She’d have to be a crazy glit biter to think she had a chance.

Arya slammed her hand on the bay doors, the lock opened, and the cargo jettisoned. The spice dissipated into the void of space. I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid. Then she had a moment of panic, "What did I do!? I could still make it! Damn spice to frelling hell!"

"I repeat, Lady of Ale, we are New Republic customs Vessel Tracker and by NR law TA-1800, you are hereby requested to stand down engines and prepare to be boarded!" The comm officer of the Interdictor sounded green and excited. Probably his first assignment. Arya banked back towards the other freighter, and all the fighters behind followed. They’d be trying to shoot her engines soon, but NR forces were loathe to damage bystanders. The Chevvette’s engines propelled her past the freighter as she bought herself a few more seconds.

Arya felt her forehead, and her fingers came away wet and red. She could feel her blood dripping down the side of her face, but she wiped her hand on her pants and shouted to the droid brain in her ship. "Raven, get that hyperdrive back online!" The fighters had probably seen her drop her cargo anyway…

"Ah, frell!" The X-Wings behind were tracing laser fire off her port side, and Arya threw Wing of the Raven into a starboard dive, spiraling in front of the Razor. The Chevvette shuddered as she demanded so much from it, and Arya cursed as the port engine took a minor hit.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

The other freighter howled past his ship’s nose, twisting out of the way of a few laser shots and at the same time placing the Razor between it and two torpedoes fired by an X-Wing. Reacting instantly, he swept the craft straight up, while hitting a console button to drop a metallic chaf cluster to lure the torpedoes away. A few seconds later and a double flare told him the trick had worked. He continued on his new course, frowning as noticed the sub lights hadn’t come fully on.

Tohmahawk scanned the sensor pack, noting the other freighter. It seemed to have a decent kick of speed and in fact the X-Wings seemed to be having trouble keeping up. He contacted the Interdictor.

“Drecker, this is Tohmahawk. Why haven’t you got a tractor beam on that freighter?”

A small pause before the female came back on line. “Sir, the tractor beam has failed. We of the Customs service don’t get a big budget for our work” The bitter tone said it all. Obviously someone shunted off into a dead end job and no chance of escape. Probably had badly trained recruits too. In a instant, Tohmahawk had gone from anger to some degree of remorse. In fact the name Drecker was jogging his memory…. He turned the Razor back towards the fleeing ships and considered. It looked like the freighter was going to get away and that would lead to Drecker getting another roach on her record

“Zara Drecker? Is that who you are?” He asked

“What’s it to you?” snapped back the other.

Zara Drecker, up and coming officer in the NR navy. Skilled and tough, she had been court-martialled for punching a superior officer when she had thought her orders were suicidal. It didn’t matter that the person who took the mission afterwards proved her right by dying along with his cruiser and crew. She was called an embarrassment and shunted off to rot. Tohmahawk had heard bits and pieces, but not being in the mainstream command line, he only could roll his eyes at another promising career destroyed by a idiot desk jockey. He truly hated the beaucracy and was eternally grateful he solely reported to the Chief of State and sometimes the Jedi Council. As his hands continued to flick buttons and find the reason why the motors weren’t giving full power, he made a decision.

“Captain Drecker, your procedures here are sloppy and not fitting of an officer of the NRSF. Attend to your duties properly in future if you wish to remain as one of my officers”

“Si….Sir? Are you placing this crew under your command…?”

“Yes and that includes you Drecker. Now show me why you won the Coruscant Star because letting a smuggler go is not the Drecker I’ve heard about.”

There was the intake of breath on the other end as Drecker realised what type of second chance she had been given. NRSF was the elite…. And it was obvious now that Drecker had had a change of procedure. The gravity cones on his scanners were changing configuration and the X-Wings were now spreading out a bit. But even that was probably going to be too little, too late….

“Captain Drecker, make sure that freighter remains in the gravity field. I will deal it myself”

Quite suddenly, the motors of the Razor dipped in power. He cursed, then slammed the board, the motors flaring and then whining upwards in note. He noted the telltales were reaching their peaks, which meant the sublights were finally at full operational power. He clicked in the overdrives and the turboboost, winding up the pressures as he was going to need it to catch this freighter. The wings reconfigured and the full weapons payload was revealed and armed. He hit the throttles, the ship seeming to stall as the engines began to glow more fiercely and he clicked the crash webbing into place. With a loud bang and a throaty roar, the exhausts blazed pillars of energy and the Razor, now looking more like a fighter leaped forward, accelerating fiercely enough that the acceleration compensators failed to keep up and Tohmahawk greyed out for a second with the G-force. He blinked away the spots in his vision and tuned his course..

Up ahead, the freighter now had a good lead over the X-Wings. The Razor’s motors were screaming, the controls all showing that the sublights were being pushed to the absolute maximum, but he was reeling in the other craft. A minute later as the motors went past their redlines, he overtook the X-Wings. He eased the power off as he cut in front of the X-Wings, cut further down and then pointed upwards, aiming his lasers for the underbelly of the freighter, while easing his speed off. He fired as the trackers got missile lock and the concussion missiles racked under the wings reported ready to fire to the trargeting computer.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya gunned the sublights, and she was running well beyond the red zone when she found the Razor coming after her. The X-wings split down the middle, two racing starboard while the other pair pulled port, and the other freighter barreled over the top of them all, closing in on the Chevvette. "Frell!" She didn't dare go into manuevers, she was getting so close to the edge of the grav field... If I can just out run them...

With a bitter curse she looked at her console and found the grav fields had shifted. There were no tractor beams tracing after her, which was odd. The comm officer of the NR interdictor was squawking one code or another at her, and she toggled the off switch. The droid brain also reported that the hyperdrive would take ten more minutes -

-but then the red lights flashed, and another alarm sounded. Missile Lock, her mind's eye informed her, and she saw the Razor beneath the Wing of the Raven. Without a second to spare, Arya cut nearly all power to her engines, and pulled the Chevvette into a torturous barrell-roll. The accelleration compensator's failed, and she slammed into the console again, but tangled a hand in the crash webbing. Her powerful legs pulled her body into her seat, and with a thought the webbing was secure around her body. Two missiles were launched from the Razor, but the pilot had not expected her sudden change of velocity, and they missed. Barely.

Arya blessed her luck, and yanked the Chevvette57 around. If there were no tractor beams coming out of the Interdictor -- She throttled her sublights as high as she dared, and shot towards the bulky cruiser, intending to bank starboard and head for a soft spot in the grav field. She managed to pull the ship starboard...

...and then things just went wrong.

The X-wings had regrouped and were racing in behind her, but they weren't firing. Arya had barely registered that fact, and wondered why, when Wing of the Raven heaved violently and the lights went out. Arya dimly heard alarms sounding all over the freighter and the acrid odor of smoke tingled in her nostrils.

The crash webbing dug into her skin, and she tore it off, scrambling for the controls. The engines were down - maybe permanently, gods only knew. Looking out the viewport Arya saw the X-wings encircling her...but what could they do? The interdictor obviously had no tractor beams.

The Razor had come back around with the X-wings, and had fired the missile that had taken out her sublights. Her mind's eye was not wrong. Ever. Arya's ears heard a high pitched whine under the sound of her alarms, and the shuddering kaa-clunk of the two freighters being joined. Her fingers moved absently over the control board, silencing the alarms.

The woman sat slowly into her seat. To resist now would be suicidal, and she liked living. Well, at least part of it, anyway. Arya fumbled for her blaster and tossed it on the console. Damn. Spice. Life didn't get much better than this. She felt the cut along her hairline, and realized that she'd hit it again when she had cut the engines. Blood was still running along her face, puddling stickily in the hollow of her neck.

There was nothing to do but wait. And so she did, in the dark, for the pilot of the freighter that had shot her down.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

The other craft must have had a lock warning device, for it cut it’s motors and spun crazily out of the way of the missiles that had been targeting it’s engines. Barely. Tohmahawk was even quietly impressed by the escape. He flicked the Razor downwards and away again, assessing where the freighter was going to do next. The sensors indicated it was powering up again, heading straight back at the Interdictor and the closest edge of the grav cone. Even more impressive, the pilot had clued on there were no tractor beams on the Interdictor and would only be bothered by turbolasers – not that an Interdictor was well armed in the first place. The X wings had kept with the freighter and were tailing it. Allright, so the other had a lock alarm…

“X-wing pilots, General Tohmahawk. At my mark, Ibis Manouver, step one”

He got an acknowledgement from a pilot, then straightened his course, once again catching up to the X-Wings. He set the targeting computer to paint the back of the X-wing closest to the freighter, saw it move to be in a direct line between him and the suspected smuggler. He got closer and closer to the X-Wing and fired the missile…

“NOW”

The X-Wing pulled out of the way, breaking the lock as it spun out of the way. The missile shot past and with no other target in sight, went straight blind into the engines of the freighter. The explosion wasn’t huge, but it was effective. Tohmahawk saw the other craft shudder and it’s motors flared out.

“Nice shot sir!”

“Your co-operation and skill have been duly noted. You may claim this kill for your own”

“Thank you sir!”

The X-Wing circled the crippled craft as Tohmahawk powered down as well. He was thinking how he would board the other when he saw the other craft jerk and then begin to move toward the interdictor. Wha..? But…?

“Captain Drecker, I thought you said you had no working tractor beams”

“That was correct when I talked to you last General. Lets say I wished to show you that the Customs service were not all retards”

“Good work Captain. I expect you know what to do – I also wish to board as well and to observe your procedures”

“Certainly General. I will be glad to meet you in person”

He clicked off, checking the X-Wings were making sure the freighter didn’t try anything and that the tractor beam was working well, before firing up and progressing to the indicated landing bay.

10 minutes later, the Razor’s systems were switched to stand by as landing gasses hissed from the now landed ship. The actual hangar was somewhat dingy, as to be expected, but the troops that were now lining up were anything but. From the outside, you wouldn’t have expected what was obviously well disciplined crew members. Maybe it was the fact a Major General was onboard or it was Drecker showing off. Still not bad to see it.

Getting up, he considered carefully what next. He saw the freighter being pulled into the hangar, being directed to a position beside Razor. Hitting the door release, he picked up his favoured guns, holstered them and picked up the sunglasses and trench coat he used when he assumed the identity of Force Master Hunter. He moved to the door and leaped out onto the floor below.

He returned the salute of the deck officer, noting the troops surrounding the freighter. A footfall next to him alerted him to the presence of a new arrival, a woman he noted. Dark haired, fit. Harsh. “Captain Drecker, I presume?”

“You presume correctly General. It is a pleasure to meet you”

“Likewise Captain. Has our captured friend replied to any requests to come out peacefully?”

“No reply General.” A loud explosion echoed out. “So we are just boarding instead”

“Lead the way please Captain. I would like to meet the being who caused my travel plans to be interrupted. No on second thoughts…” He drew out a gun, unlocked the safety and chambered a bullet “Let me go first”

The troops had just finishing blowing a hatch open as Drecker and Tohmahawk arrived. The regular troops gave way to their commanding officer, who had also was armed with a carbine. Tohmahawk drew his other weapon.

“Lets do it”

He took a run, jumped inside and fired at the same time to give himself cover. The hollow point explosive projectiles blew holes into the interior. He rushed forward toward the control cabin, skidded to a stop as he saw a being in there…

He raised both guns, aimed and fired into a control surface, sparks and metal flying as the bullet detonated. “DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! SURRENDER NOW!” he yelled as Drecker and a few other troops also skidded to a stop, pointing their weapory at the pilot.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya closed her eyes as sparks showered her from the console as the intruders' fired and pointed thier blasters at her. She kept her mind's eye open. The man dressed in black in front appeared to be in charge, and he was yelling for surrender. Like I haven't already, frelling idiot New Republic bantha dung ... After the shower of sparks ended, she opened her blue eyes.

In the light from the viewport, she could see the men surrounding her, and her anger mounted. Tractor me in, and then blow holes in my ship!? Like hell- She resisted the urge to grab for her blaster as the front man picked it up. His guns were large and polished black, not the typical blaster. They fired projectiles, as well, some sort of old, perhaps a hollow point design, that had blasted up the interior of her ship. She felt a momentary sadness for Wing of the Raven, and then focused her eyes on the man. He was standing there, cocky and pointing those guns (all show, no doubt. Only a man would need something that big).

Arya sat there, and he stood there with his NR troops, who were finally quieting down. She coolly stared at him in silence. Then she waved her left hand to take in the interior of her freighter. "Well, let's see. I don't think I'm going to be flying away anytime soon, so I guess you boys have me. I'm unarmed, and I never fired a shot in agression at anyone's ship. Someone owes me an explaination, and if I don't like it, then they're going to have to think of something I do like! An apology would be nice!" She kept raising her voice, getting louder and more irate.

"Now, stop waving those toys around, and take me to someone in authority!" She stood to her feet, and the troops involuntarily stepped back, looking at each other in confusion. Arya had spoken in Twi'lek. She made a rude hand gesture to make up for the lekku she did not have.

"What did she say?" One of the troopers raised his blaster rifle a little higher, pointing at her head. Arya did not flinch.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

Tohmahawk passed a glance at Drecker who shrugged slightly. She spoke Twi'lek...? What the frell was a human doing speaking that language? Tohmahawk spun the guns into his holsters, seemed to turn away and then snapped a turning striaght into the femal'es jaw, sending her smashing backwards into the control panels.

"anyone see that?" asked Tohmahawk, innocently.

"See what?" replied Drecker with a muted grin "So I take it you speak Twi'lek then?"

"Not a lot but enough to understand the gist" He reached over and grabbed the woman and hoisted her off the ground by the front of her clothes. "All right, you may have dumped your load of spice so we dont have you cold on that. But unfortunantly for you I dont play technicalities as the law does. You are a smuggler and I'll deal with you the way i deal with all smugglers."

He bunched his arms and then flung her into the control panel. "Drecker, get your men to make sure this craft wont be flying without a great deal of repair. This young lady is about to get a good lesson why smuggling is bad for the health. Leave us"

Drecker could hardly contain the grin as she ordered the troops out.

[Arya Ravenwing]

In addition to the blood from the cut on her forehead, Arya's lip burst under the pressure from the man's fist. She fell hard against the shot up console, dazed momentarily. Hands reached for her, and grabbed the front of her now-stained blouse. Her head lolled back as he pulled her upright once more. Ah, justice at its best. The man was saying something, but she didn't bother listening. It was all the same, anyway.

Arya half-smiled. The gist of this is that I'm going to get a beating. What I do for money. The man threw her back into the control panel, and she felt the transponder toggle dig into the small of her back. The others were leaving the cockpit, and her mind's eye and ear told her they were exiting the Wing of the Raven.

"..this young lady is about to get a good lesson why smuggling is bad for the health." The last words he'd spoken rang in her mind like a bell, and Arya struggled up off the console, one hand automatically going for the medallion the hung around her neck. Still there. She spat blood from her lip at him, speaking still in Twi'lek. "Young? I'm twenty-seven. And as for lady..."

The woman vaulted herself off the panels, knocking his next fist aside with a forearm and flying straight into him. Guns. Her thoughts were single words, as if panted from her mouth. Arya kneed him in the gut and scrabbled her hand for one of the guns at his side. ...late! He regained his balance remarkably quickly, and Arya tore a fingernail on his gun as he shoved her back into her seat.

She continued the motion, rolling backwards off the side of the seat, crashwebbing avoiding her. Landing on her feet, Arya stood up just in time to catch another fist on her temple, sending fresh trickles of blood from her cut. Her blue eyes swam in confusion, so she closed them. What I see can trick me. Her mind's eye was clear, as she knew it would be. It had always been, from when she had been a tiny girl, and now was no different.

Reeling backwards, she thumped against the bulkhead, navcomputer to her right. And on her left - better than nothing at all. The man was coming on her again, and she steeled her muscles to take a blow to the stomach, pretending that she was truly blind and not avoiding his fist. She cursed him roundly in Twi'lek, using the choice words the warriors favored, and the women avoided. "I am blinded, mercy!"

He took his time, a half smile painted on his face as he aimed another blow to her head. A scant second's thought later the hydrospanner she had left in the cockpit was in her hand, and Arya smashed it directly into the top of his head with all her might. Eyes still closed she darted around him and ran for the corridor...and the rest of the frieghter.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

By the Force. Only his training had stopped her grabbing one of his guns, his natural speed had given a reply. As he hit her in the stomach, his mind was slowed down, watching abstractly. Observing. Something wasn’t as it seemed here and he was now searching for it. Heard her say something in Twi’lek he couldn’t quite understand. Mercy? Not now lady, not now…

He didn’t even think as he reacted, ducking down. Even that wasn’t enough as the hydro spanner his face as he tried to turned away. The implement cut his face as it swept by and he hit the floor. He sensed, rather that saw the female begin to make a break for it and again out of instinct, fired a hand out, catching her heel in an open hand slap. It must have been done with far more power than it looked as she tripped, going headfirst into a wall and crashed to the ground. Tohmahawk shook his head to clear the blurred vision. Damn it, he could have sworn she had nothing in her hand…

She didn’t. She called it into her hand. She’s also got reflexes too fast…

It was all summed up in his mind as he pushed himself off the deck, blood oozing from the cheek and crash tackled the woman as she tried to get back up, hitting the wall with her face with the force of tackle.

No quarter given now. He knew. She was Force sensitive.

He got up and quickly paced a knee on her backbone, just above the kidneys, scooped her shoulders in his arms, then pulled them backwards while bearing down with the knee. She didn’t scream, but he knew how badly this would hurt and how it would cut nerves to the legs if he pressed any harder. As it was, her back would be a pillar of pain and it would be almost impossible to breathe fully. He kept the pressure on her backbone.

“Like to give me lip in twi’lek heh?” He switched to Twi’lek, pronouncing each work slowly to cover his lack of fluency “Fight good. Warrior you not.” He then expressed a vile epitaph – like most soldiers, he knew the insults of plenty of languages – as he pushed even harder with the knee. Blood dripped from his face onto her back.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya was falling, the man's hand grabbing at her ankle. She hit the bulkhead and fell to the ground, but scrambled to regain her feet. Weapons' locker. If only she could reach it...

She cried out as he tackled her from behind, smashing her face first into the wall. Arya tasted her own blood in her mouth, and prayed to the gods her nose wasn't broken. If it wasn't...she'd still have black eyes if she survived this. Before she could move, Arya felt his knee on her back, and he threw an arm around her, pulling her shoulders back and up. Pain coursed up her spine, and she bit her ruined lip to keep from crying out.

"Fight good. Warrior you not." His Twi'lek was terrible, but that was no consolation. She was well and truly caught, and he pressed harder with his knee. She opened her eyes, unbidden tears welling up from the pressure on her backbone. Nothing. Nothing in front to use as a weapon. Her mind's eye searched around behind the man but there was nothing of use there either. He was bleeding on her.

Arya clenched her teeth and tried to breath evenly, but it was difficult with the position he had her torqued up into. She licked her swollen lip, and then spat on the ground in front of her. Her mind raced, but there was nothing to do but wait. So she did. Arya, last of the Ravenwings, knew that patience was always rewarded...with something.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

He saw in his mind’s eye a place of war. There were fallen warriors and soldiers, smoke twisted by. A man was approaching a another man, who was holding up a badly hurt female. He was also badly hurt and barely able to raise an arm…. Pleading…. The first man raised a sword to strike…

He almost let go in surprise. What the hell was all that about?

Don’t kill her.

He shifted his arms, releasing the paralysing hold, but instead grabbing the back of her head and then ruthlessly slamming her head into the floor, turning her face into a battered and bleeding mess, knocking her out. He stopped as the blood from his face dripped into the pool of hers, then wiped his face, the horribly insense expression beginning to soften. He carefully looked about, then he pulled out his boot knife, cut off a piece of her top and then wiped the blood off his face. He then turned her over and then began to clean her face.

“Didn’t do a bad job I’d say. You’ll wake up with one mean headache I reckon.” He paused, placed a hand over the eyes, seemed to concentrate for a few minutes. Her breathing became easier, relaxed. Good. “That should help you out, plus make sure you stay quiet for a while” He sat back on his heels, his face much softer, even concerned. “It seems our meeting was not by chance. I wonder who you are?” He saw the odd pendant on her neck, examined it. “Odd. Looks to be a seal of some kind. Are you someone special? Runaway maybe? Preferred a life of adventure instead of sitting in some palace somewhere?” He smiled softly. “Well, I don’t know what the Force is telling me, but your certainly going to have a few adventures, that much is clear to me. You have destiny written all over you”

He stopped speaking and closed his eyes. He seemed to be deep in thought and motionless. After a few minutes, he slowly reopened his eyes and looked back at the woman, still unconscious. “Arya Ravenwing. Never heard of you before until now. Interesting how the Force is denying me anything else other than that or even what to do next. I guess I’ll just make it up as we go then. Stay there, I’ll be back soon” He grinned at his joke. She wasn’t going anywhere, not until he commanded it.

He stood, glanced at the rag he still had in his hand, allowed it to drop as he stepped over her prone form. He went back outside and as he did, touched the place where that hydrospanner had hit his face. @#%$, that was going to leave a mark and a half. Captain Drecker saw Tohmahawk come out of the craft and went over to him.

“Sir? Your hurt? Did the smuggler try to fight back?”

“That she did, and did well. Oh don’t worry, she lying in a pool of her own blood right now, she only got in a lucky hit. Countermand the order to pull her ship apart, leave it as it is. Set course for Coruscant please and also could you get a medic to see to her please? Just make sure she doesn’t die, don’t try to wake her up from her coma. I doubt anything short of a Jedi or a month in a recovery ward will do that. After we get to Coruscant, I’ll have further orders… then we will see about transferring this crew to my command.”

“Sir, yes sir! Do you want anyone to see to your face General?”

“No, it will be fine. See to your orders please Captain, I will be back in my ship until you are ready to dock at a skyhook”. He returned the salute, then went back to Razor, vaulting over the rear wing and then back into the hatchway.

He paused at the refresher, looking at his face in the mirror. Ouch, that was going to be one hell of a bruise…. But even as his fingertips touched the wound, it seemed to stop seeping blood and the pain seemed to recede.

He considered his options. Then an idea came to his mind… and he had to smile.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The last thing she felt was her face breaking on the floor of her freighter. And then...the void.

Flash.

"Lysa!" There was a tall man shoving at a pregnant woman, soot covered his face. "Get to the shuttle!" The woman was sobbing, and trying to resist, shaking her head back and forth.

"My husband! Sweet Rynon, how is-?" She wept as she was hustled through smoke thick enough to chew.

"There's no time, we need to get you off planet!" The pair dashed through a doorway, and disappeared into the smoke.

Flash.

A man stood behind a podium, waving at a crowd of beings who cheered with one voice for him. "Rynon! Rynon!" Then, chaos erupted, a blossom of red appearing on the man's chest, and he fell back, and the vision centered on him...falling with him. He clutched his heart, blood pumping through his long fingers, and whispered, "Lysa..."

The man covered in soot was there, only his face was clean. "My lord!" Fires had already been started, smoke was beginning to billow around the stage. The man called Rynon turned his face to him, and spoke with his last breath. "Call her Arya, tell Lysa...Arya.... the great raven..." His eyes rolled back and he died.

The man set Rynon's head down gently, and then pulled at his collar, extracting a thick gold chain with a circular seal dangling from it. "My lord." With a half salute, he ripped the chain from the dead man's neck, and ran out of the vision.

The dead eyes stared up...blue as the summer sky.

Flash.

A woman nursed an infant, cooing and singing to her babe. Her black hair was pulled back loosely at her neck, and she wore the chain around her neck, the medallion resting between her milk-heavy breasts. "Arya, my sweet raven." She caressed the infant's soft dark hair.

Then she looked up, straight out through the vision, blue eyes unwavering. "She is destined."

Flash.

"Aaron!" A woman in her twenties ran after a blond man, shrieking with laughter. Her long legs carried her after him, and they collapsed in a heap on a bed, arms and legs and lips entangled. She lay with her head on his chest. "Never leave me."

"I never will," he vowed, bending over to kiss her again.

Flash.

The woman cradled his head in her lap, her tears dripping onto the man's face. Her chin length hair covered her face as trembling hands fluttered over multiple blaster burns on his neck and chest. She flinched as blaster bolts splatted on the wall beside her, and then she scooped up his blaster from his hand, and shot back.

She got up and ran away, blood smears from her boots marking her path.

Flash.

Kessel.

Flash.

Space.

Flash.

A man's face, curious, and hands reaching for her.

Flash. Pain. Light.

Twi'leks, gathering for a funeral. The woman/child weeping, the mother entombed. The medallion...passed on to the daughter.

Flash.

A great raven, swooping down and pecking at her forehead.

Flash.

Pain.

Light.

Light?

Arya opened her eyes.

The raven was still pecking, tearing at her brain. No, wait. She blinked slowly. Her head throbbed with pain, radiating back from the bridge of her nose.

She lifted her hands to cover her eyes- and couldn't. She was tied securely to a chair of some sort.

Panic. The medallion! Her chest heaved with breath, and the smooth circle of metal moved against her body. Arya closed her eyes.

The visions...Lysa, her mother. Aaron, her lover. And Rynon? Her... father? She opened her eyes. The other man, the one that reached out through the vision to her. She did not know him.

Arya Ravenwing sat, tied tightly to a chair, in a bare room.

[Force Master Hunter]

He stood in a corner, eyes behind eyeshades and in his customary dress and wearing his normal heavy artillery. Black trench coat, black pants, boots. Dark, short hair. His gaze moved across the bare room, the only features of the grey room being a window and a woman tied to a chair, still in a hibernation trance. He decided the time was right and moved over to the woman, fingers breifly touching her cut and smashed face. Not bad too look at, if you dismissed the damage. He would have to say Tohmahawk had been just a touch ... entusiastic handing out a beating to this smuggler. He actually felt some sympathy as he used his Force ability to break the trance, then walk across the room to his original place while she woke up enough to be able to communicate.

The Jedi that had delivered her here had told Hunter the whole situation. Why Hunter was being involved, who knew. But credits were good and that's all that mattered. But Hunter had to agree.... this lady had destiny written all over her. Oddly shadowed and cloudly, but you could feel that she was important to something.

He waited until she moved her head, before carefully dropping the Force Hide ability he used to conceal his presence to unaware Force users.

"Arya Rawenwing. Interesting name, I have not come across it before. Interestingly, the information stores I have access to dont give me much information on who you really are either. Not even a DNA print. Like you never existed and that must have taken some doing."

He walked slowly over to her, bent down and faced her at eye level. "Or, do you have a different name, maybe? Something the databanks are familair with? Have you got something to hide Miss Rawenwing?"

He stood upright again. "No need to speak Twi'lek with me, I know quite well you can speak basic. Who are you Arya Rawenwing? I would like to know"

[Arya Ravenwing]

The man appeared in her mind's eye, startling her, and then he came into focus in front of her blue eyes. Arya closed them as he spoke. When he was finished and waiting for her to reply, she fought a wry grin.

Who am I? Frell, mister, I'd like to know that myself. She opened her eyes again, the figure in front of her blurring and focusing as her eyes fought with her mind's eye. It was too dark to see him clearly, but the man wore dark glasses to hide his eyes.

Arya parted her lips, and felt them crack and bleed again with the movement. She worked some saliva around her tongue, and then spat on the ground in between the man's feet. Arya raised her head. And blinked again.

Hunter. The name whispered into her mind, and into her heart. Her breath caught in her throat momentarily. But it had to be him... The one who had taken down Darth Turbogeek, renowned Jedi Master.

Calm yourself, he's just a man. Men, she could deal with. Legends...well, they scared children.

She spoke slightly accented Basic, tongue rolling lightly on the syllables. "I am no one of consequence. Never smuggled before... First offense..." Arya allowed her words to trail off. Lies were bold, and yet, somehow she knew he could see right through her.

[Force Master Hunter]

He gave her a wry smile.

"First offense? I could be quite condensending here Miss Ravenwing, but I see your a fellow professional and I'm not going to insult your intelligence. So please, do not insult mine"

He clicked his fingers and her binding came loose. "My name, when I choose it to be is indeed Force Master Hunter as you have correctly guessed. Rather interesting you managed that without clues. Would you care to tell me how?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

She tried not to look surprised as her bindings fell off, and hid her reaction by rubbing her wrists where they had chafed. What magic was this?

Arya thought about his question. How had she known? Better question, how had he guessed that she knew? She raised blue eyes to stare into his shades, and mumbled around her swollen lip, "I just did."

He crossed his arms, and she realized he expected more of an answer. And if he wanted her to talk more, maybe he wasn't going to kill her. Arya couldn't think of what purpose her death might serve, but it was still a possibility. Force Master Hunter was a name mothers used to scare children into obedience at night. Here, faced with him, Arya felt a thrill of fear herself.

She shrugged. "I've known things since I was a tiny girl. Known things I should not have been able to, saw things..." Arya let her voice trail off and she coughed, a speckle of blood appearing on her lips. Dry. She didn't shame herself by asking for water.

"I see visions in my sleep, and sometimes when I am awake, also." She coughed again, throat burning, but continued on. "My mind's eye and ear tell me things. That is all. Perhaps I am cursed -" Her voice cracked, and she tried to wet her broken lips, but her tongue was dry.

[Force Master Hunter]

:: Hunter saw the trouble she was having speaking. He reached behind his back and unclipped a standard ration bottle, opened it and held it out

"Here, try this out. Dont worry, I havent done anything childish like spike it with something. Please, accept it"

He waited a moment while she took a drink.

"What you described is not very common, but certain people do have the ability you have, which is why your here. I'm interested in people like you, those who can see the future and do things with their minds. "

He turned away, shaking his head slightly. Listen to me, I'm prattling. I'm getting loopy as I get older. Just get to the point.

"Your quite correct, if I wanted to kill you, you would be already rotting in a gutter somewhere. You here becasue I want to find out more about you because you might be useful for what I do." He turned back to face her. "So tell me, who are you?"::

[Arya Ravenwing]

The water was warm, and tasted like the inside of the canteen. But it was wet, and served its purpose. Arya was careful not to drink too much, in case she needed to move quickly. Handing back the canteen, however, caused pain to shoot up and down her spine as she leaned forward. The other man, whatever his name had been, had left her with plenty to remember him by.

No running for me. So, the Hunter was interested in her? Arya fought the urge to find a bed to hide under. She was not a child, and he was only a man. Still...

As she started to speak, Arya studied the man in front of her. He was of average height, and shrouded in a long dark coat, but it did nothing to disguise his broad shoulders and obviously muscled frame. Hunter had to be around her own age...which made her wonder about other things as well.

"You know my name." Somehow you are hearing my thoughts. "I am Arya Ravenwing, the last of my family. My father was killed just before I was born, and my mother died ten years ago from an unknown disease that bacta could not cure.

"I was raised on Ryloth, among the Twi'lek. My mother always said we had to hide from my father's killers, but no one ever came for us. She wasn't quite right in the head, you know?" Arya raised her arm to tap her own forehead, but a multitude of pains and Hunter's attentive stance changed her mind. She clasped her hands in her lap, distractedly noticing the dried blood from around her torn fingernail. I hope I bled on those fancy guns...

"I've always had these, well, premonitions. I haven't been able to figure out what else to call them. I can see through walls at times, or rather, not really see, but ..."

"Feel." Hunter's word was not a question.

"Feel, frell...yeah, feel what is beyond the wall. At seventeen my mother died, and I took what little we had, and left Ryloth, for good. I haven't been back since." She didn't shrug, but she wanted to. "As you can tell from my accent, Twi'lek is my first language. And I fell into a life of... well, only small-time smuggling. Nothing big, like slaves or anything."

Arya lapsed into silence. She peered suspiciously at the canteen in his hands still. Why did I talk so much!? I'm stupid, stupid, stupid! There had to be something in there... Oh well, the words had already left the docking bay, there was no bringing them back.

[Force Master Hunter]

He looked at the canteen, held with one hand, uncapped it and took a drink himself. He caught Arya’s look and smiled in return. “Your right, I can hear what you say” He held out the canteen. “Here, please help yourself. As I said, it’s uncontaminated and quite frankly, you need what you can get. You got a good working over from Major General Tohmahawk of the New Republic. Count yourself lucky, normally he just simply shoots smugglers or anyone that annoys him. Not exactly a stable man I would have thought myself…. But be that as it may, he recognises talent when he comes across it, which is the reason why you ended up here. Beings with no ties, skilled fighters and pilots, resourceful … “ He paused. Should he mention his suspicions that she was a Force sensitive person? Would she even understand what that meant? Entire races denied that the Force even existed, what would a person of Arya’s age and upbringing think? “… and lucky” Pah, no such thing as luck, but it would have to do.

“So, would you care to know more? I can promise good money, your ship repaired, but I must warn you, this is risky. I would say your chances of getting out alive are moderate, but the risk is acceptable. Alternatively, if you don’t want to know anything about it, I’ll shoot you with a stun blaster and when you recover, I’ll just be a dream and you are free to be on your way.”

He moved somewhat further away from her, in fact moving to the window and looking outwards. “It certainly will beat being a lowly smuggler” He turned away, hiding the fact his face was now creased in a frown. The Force was telling him there was a disturbance nearby, centred around someone. Puzzled, he began to scan with his mind, just searching. Sometimes being a Force user as he was, was an advantage. Most of the time it was just a plain curse. A curse because you just kept getting caught in things and situations you would rather not.

[Arya Ravenwing]

She took the canteen and drank carefully, working around her bruised lips. The offer was tempting... "I work alone."

Arya fingered the medallion through her blouse, "This Tomhahawk...his method of offering work is unusual, to say the least. But..." She paused. "I'm between employers." The last one's not going to be happy that I dumped the spice. "So tell me more." She drained the last of the tepid water from the canteen, and swished it around her mouth before swallowing.

[Force Master Hunter]

"Between employers... How that is something we of the Underground like to say when we are broke and desperate for work. Dont worry about your last emplyers, I'll have them taken care of...." The tone of finality on his voice made sure Arya knew exactly what he meant.

"Very well. Tell me, what do you know of the Dark Jedi group, the Back Hand?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya leaned gingerly back in her chair, favoring her sore spots. "The Black Hand? Well... I've never heard of them." She winced as she shrugged. "But the Jedi, I know about them. They make my job more difficult than it already is, nosy do-gooders."

She felt a bump on her head with her fingers. "What about this Black Hand? Is the job with them?"

[Force Master Hunter]

:: "Job has to do with the Black Hand. My backers need a person to find out whats going on there and they need a person of your skills. I have... links with TBH, but not good enough to really get behind the scences. It wont be easy, but for some one like you, I believe you can do it. You would report to me what you see as you gain their trust. How you do that is totally up to you. The job pays 20,000 advance, puls tools you may require, plus 5000 week. You will have some backup, but in the main your on your own"

He paused as he realised the odd disturbance was getting closer. He centred it around a person and realised it was the person whom he was expecting. Not quite on time.... but there was some thing else. Odd. Familiar. Not right.

"Any questions?"::

[Arya Ravenwing]

She ran her hand through her hair, feeling the limpness of the strands. "20,000 in advance?" That could help. "And my ship will be returned to me in the condition is was in before?"

He nodded, taking the empty canteen away from her. Her mind raced. 20,000 could solve a lot of immediate problems. Imperial or New Republic...credits were credits, and she had debts. Mainly in bars. That, plus 5000 a week... Arya ran the numbers quickly. 31,000 creds for 6 weeks! That number depended on how long she held the job. Plus tools...there were any number of new gadgets she could "use" on the Wing of the Raven. Of course, if they were useful for the job... Arya smiled a little, then ran her tongue over her swollen bottom lip.

Now that I've heard it, I don't really have a choice, do I. "I'd be stupid to say no, and probably frelled as well. As long as this 'backup' you speak of stays out of my way, I'll take the job." She didn't notice her hand fingering her ring finger. There was no ring, only a slight tan line from where one had once been worn.

"Just one question. How do I meet the Black Hand? Your 'links?'"

[Force Master Hunter]

"To meet the Black Hand wont be hard. It's the best way to do it that is difficult. Now, here is credit chit, made out with your name. Every week there will be 5000 credits deposited into that account with your on the job. Your backup.... will indeed stay out of your way.... if you choose. Your ship is right now at landing pad 94, SSJ5 and it should be repaired nicely now"

He paused as if in thought, but in reality looking via the Force at the disturbance that was as of now quite colse. Too close. He would have to move quickly now...

"If you get into trouble, look out for an unexpected ally in low places." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I cant really tell you more as for this to be a success, you need to know as little as possible. Just observe and earn their trust and report what you have when I contact you."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya accepted the chit, and carefully tucked it into the lining of her bra. Hunter paused his monologue for a second or two, as if thinking... or listening. Arya listened as well, and her mind's ear picked up something. Something different. She'd never really paid attention to such things before, but...

...whatever it was it had caught the man's attention. He stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. His hand was warm, and right on top of a bruise. Arya didn't wince, but her eyebrow raised slightly.

"An ally in low places?" Arya tapped her fingertips together. "And I'm supposed to earn the Dark Jedis' trust...while I'm infiltrating them to learn all I can about them?" She snapped her fingers. "Easy. Well, maybe if I was a Jedi. But, okay. When do I get to go?"

[Force Master Hunter]

:: He felt the disturbance get closer. And he was able to identify someone getting closer. Nearly time...

"Understand this has to look like an accident. You were trying to settle a score and you got into a fight. You would have won but for the Bith with the chair hitting your head"

She looked back puzzled. "What?"

"Because it's going to explain what your doing landing in front of them"

He could see she was puzzled, then her eyes go open wide.

"Accept my apologies, but you will see this was the best way....." He suddenly grabbed her shoulder, grabbed her dress with the other hand, twisted, picked her up and threw her out the window. The glass shattered as she sailed outwards, to land heavily on the sidewalk, two floors below.

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth walked forward steadily, the people about him moving sluggishly and without zeal. Such inefficiency... it disgusted him. Most of them were homeless, without work... mere smugglers, beggars, thieves - A blur, a snap, and a wincing yelp. Jeseth turned his head to a strange little man who he had caught delving into his coat pocket. He could see fright trembling through the now watery blue eyes which belonged to the pathetic little midget.

"You should have asked of me to spare you some credits; Your death might have been less painful then..."

The Dark Jedi's eyes seemed to be momentarily filled with rage, but he felt something... He felt a sudden wave of fear, or maybe surprise, and it was not the thiefs. Releasing the little man's hand and turning toward's his apprentice, Turbogeek, he reached for the saber at his waist.

<font size=5 face=verdana color=gray>CRASH!</font>

The Dark Jedi backed away, Turbogeek almost instantly following in step. A shadow continued to grow larger and larger on the ground before them, Jeseth's eyes growing narrower and narrower as he glanced up at the blinding sun, observing a strange figure free-falling rapidly, and small reflecting pieces of...

What in the frell..?

Glass. One upwards motion with his hands sent the majority of the particles sailing away, landing them in the center of the walkway harmlessly, a few of them rattling as they struck the hulls of personal transport speeders.

<font size=5 face=verdana color=gray>Thud.</font>

There it was... a woman. Jeseth quizzically glanced at Turbogeek, a sudden and familiar presence echoing through the Force... It felt almost like - his thoughts were interrupted by a frail wince from down by his feet, the woman seemingly covered in shards of glass and sand.

[Darth Turbogeek]

One moment, walking through the street of this rather incredible place. Seeing all these sights and sounds! He never would have dreamed that there could be so many beings, so many... things! And so many other...... things! And those .... things that stood taller than any .....tree? and stretched upwards into the blue of the sky. How did these ... buildings, that's what Jeseth called them, buildings, how did they get here?

He was just simply agog at it all. But he did note that it all seemed... disconencted from the ground somehow. He couldnt really explain it, but despite it's magnificence, it felt out of place, like the planet was dead.... or something. It was really hard to explain. Despite Jeseth knowing a lot and explaining things as they walked, he doubted Jeseth could understand Turbogeek's affinity with the natural order. He just felt akin to nature and not things that were created by beings. And a whole planet that Jeseth said was just one big city (city.... place where beings congegated and built stuff for no apparent reason, apart to build stuff) and it just wasnt right. Besides, too many beings around. Some of them smelled decidedly odd too. Yurk

He wasnt really paying attention again as he was looking at some really, really odd plants (A rareity in a being built jungle like this) when he heard an odd noise above him. He looked up and saw .... a human? falling towards them. He took a hasty step back as glass rained down and the human landed witha decent thump. He looked up from between the arms over his head, that had gotten a few cuts from falling glass, saw the window this... human came from, he supposed.

"Master Jeseth.... what was this human doing trying to fly? Even I could have told you humans cant fly..." Or could they? He did n't know actually if they could or could'nt. Quite certainly he had never tried. Turbogeek did a test jump, just wondering. Maybe he would try to jump out a window later and see what happened, though on the evidence on the ground in front of him, the answer would be human's couldn't.

So, what was this human doing trying? "Why was human trying to fly?"

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth crouched down, placing a hand on the girls throat. There was a pulse, and a strong one at that. He didn't doubt she would come around soon...

"I don't know why she was attempting to fly, but from the way she landed, I don't think she had planned to fall from that window."

Giving a quick inspection of the area above and around the window, he saw no one. The crowd had stopped for but a mere second to observe her fall, and then continued onward. It seemed as if they were used to such sights... Turbogeek's questioning and curious manner was pleasing, though at times he couldn't help to wonder exactly what his apprentice was thinking. The young man had a strange habit of testing things out in the strangest of ways...

Hmmm...

He raised a brow and considered the situation. The woman was strong with the Force, but bringing her with them might be more a hindrance than a blessing.

"We'll leave her. Someone will arrive for her, sooner or later..."

The Dark Jedi straightened his knees, blocking out the sun as he formed a shadow over the woman's body. Turbogeek still seemed highly entertained with the concept of human flight...

[Darth Turbogeek]

Her?

Huh?

He stopped to puzzle that one out.

"Jeseth, what do you mean, her? is that some sort of word referring to humans who can fly?" His eyes went wide "ooh, humans CAN fly? Can we try? Would that be a great thing to do and then we wont have to walk!" Hey, flying would be sooooo cool.

[Jeseth Cloak]

The Dark Jedi's eyes were warped in perplexion. DT didn't know what a woman was?

"No... Human's can't fly, save in ships. I was referring to this woman..."

Jeseth pointed at the unconsciousness, but now stirring, body. The girl was somewhat attractive to the winged man, though he had recently lost his desire for carnal satisfactions. perhaps this would be the ideal time to show Turbogeek exactly what a woman was.

"Women are another gender - Within most species there are genders. Each gender serves a vital function within nature... Women bear children for males after engaging in sexual intercourse. In some races, you may find only one gender... It can vary greatly from world to world. This woman is a female of the human species You are a male."

He reached down and placed his hands over the woman's clothes, preparing to rip them form her body in order to better illustrate the finer differences between males and females, when he noticed his apprentice gazing at her curiously. Jeseth released his hold on her clothing and stood upright, nodding to Turbogeek and signaling him forward with a quick hand motion.

"Explore her... We have time to spare."

[Darth Turbogeek]

:; He bent down to face ... her? And looked at .... her? Face. Certainly, it was different, but there were many differences in just plain humans that he had noted. Jeseth had those odd things on his back that frankly Turbogeek hadn't asked about. Just simply accepted them. He was dimly aware most species thought of themselves as same across the board, Turbogeek was well aware that it was not the case. Just the humans walking on the street were totally different and now Turbogeek noted, there did seem to be some definite distinction. In general one half was slimmer and had a different form. Like this.... her? Woman?

Different for sex? Now that concept utterly failed him. Sex and procreation were just not cncepts he even had a hint on. Jeseth may as well of been talking a different language then. In fact, it sounded a bit repellant. Now why would there be a need for.... what was it Jeseth had said? He struggled to think of it, but it was gone. Something he did notice however was quite clear. She was hurt and would be in pain. At this point she did seem to be sleeping, which was a bit strange. You came out of a window and go to sleep? What a strange way to go to bed. Turbogeek merely curled up on the floor when he felt tired. Ah well, there were many, many things that just plain eluded him right now and could make no sense of.

He ran a finger down her neck, brushing the .... what was this shiny thing she wore? Oooh Shiny thing! Pretty! Quite suddenly, he turned his head to look up at the window she had come from.... and his heart was gripped by fear. Like the Man with No Colour was there... and if the Man with No Colour was there and had in effect thrown this woman out the window - no, he couldn't be there. But he was still afraid. To him it suddenly seemed vital to leave and take this woman with them. He bent down and picked her up easily, shifted and placed her over his shoulder.

"She's hurt. Woman comes with us Jeseth, at least until we see her better" He didnt wait for reply, he began to walk as hurridly off as he could, still feeling like he was being watched.

[Jeseth Cloak]

"Very well..."

Jeseth glanced up again at the window, the fear within Turbogeek echoing in his own mind.

Hunter?

The Dark Jedi shook his head, looking back and sprinting to catch up with his apprentice. The boy had a kind heart, but all in time the galaxy would change that... He would see the need for death and destruction... pain and suffering... fear. The young apprentice has yet to experience the true necessity for it.

"Once she is treated... she must be released. you must'n pick up a habit of helping every dying human you see. Death is merely another cycle of life."

Jeseth gazed at the shining neckace, then pondered it for a moment. Something seemed strange... and he had his misgivings about the situation. He should have killed the woman on the spot, but perhaps his apprentice could learn from her.

[Arya Ravenwing]

One minute she was sitting, wishing that Hunter's hand wasn't leaning so hard on her shoulder, and the next thing Arya knew she was slamming into a wall. No, not a wall, a window....and the window broke.

She didn't scream as she fell, but clamped her lips shut. Bith, bar fight...FRELL! Her arms flailed in the air, and then...

Pain, and comforting blackness. There was no pain in the void.

Slowly Arya began to come around, and as consciousness flooded back, so did the pain. Pain! Frell, and what pain it was. She felt like she'd been taken apart by a Wookie, and then put back together by a wampa. She moaned, and cracked her eyes open.

Boots. Boots? Arya squeezeed her eyes shut, and noticed the bumping her body was experiencing. Someone was carrying her...someone was carrying her! "Frell..." she mumbled, but under her breath. What had happened?! She gripped her ride with her long fingers, and heard the being gasp slightly.

Her brain was blank. Wait...something about a - "Bith...bar fight... ohhh, my head!" The boots kept moving, and Arya felt dizzy from the motion. She was being carried away at a pretty good clip, and the sidewalk underneath her was blurring. Although, that might have been because of the fall.

The fall? Had she fallen? What was going on? She pinched the being carrying her, and noticed where its one of its hands were...on her backside! She pinched again, mumbling through her broken lips, "What is going on? Stop? I..."

[Darth Turbogeek]

:: He noticed the woman moving slightly and then pinch him

"Ow! HEy!"

He continued to move, wanting to put as much distance between himself and whatever was making him afraid. He tralked between breaths.

"Hi there. Your a human right? Jeseth tells me your female as well, but I wouldn't really know. Are you? What were you doing trying to fly? Or were you fallling asleep? I'm Turbogeek by the way. I dont know what importance people place in names, but that's mine"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Female? Sleeping? Flying?! Arya clamped her fingers into the man's back and sides, trying to stop feeling so insecure....like she might fall again in a heartbeat as they jogged down the street. His shoulder dug into her bruised rib cage, and her back felt like it had been run over by a bantha. Wait -!

"Tur-tur-bog-geek?" She rolled her tongue around the name between jostles. Wasn't Turbogeek the same name of the Jedi Master that had been...well, that was - dead? Maybe a relative, or someone of the same line...

He felt solid enough, not like Arya thought a spirit would feel like. "Ar-ya." She ground her teeth against the pain, and shut her eyes. Reaching out with her mind's eye, she saw the man keeping pace with her bearer, or rather, the alien. He had wings or something... "Fight. Bith - threw - me -through - win-dow. Not - fly-ing."

Arya felt something cool hit her face, and opened her eye to see her medallion dangling in front of it. The chain was dangerously close to falling off of her, and she gritted her teeth and reached for it.

[Darth Turbogeek]

"Hello Arya. You got thrown out of a window because of a fight?" He began to slow, feeling the pressure of fear going. He stopped a a bench seat, settling Arya down gently, before sitting on the ground himself. Jeseth came to a stop, mildy winded.

"Well I would have to say that was quite rude of them. Why would they want to throw you out of a window anyway? Do you know how to fly?" He prattled on just chatting as he examined the injuries Arya had. Some part of his mind examined her without emotion, listing off what it could see and sense. Turbogeek had found he had some sort of gift for healing, one that Jeseth seemed to find helpful. Maybe this Arya would find it useful too.

Not good. Internal, broken bones, probably from the fall, localised bruising and cuts, looks to have been beaten. Glass cuts. Need some bacta time. Possible infection on her left arm

He nodded, not exactly understanding, but still moving carefully, with gentle fingers. Jeseth could say what he wanted about cycles of life or whatever, there was an odd link of compassion Turbogeek just couldnt dismiss. Seemed to be ingrained.

"Are you a female? Could you explain what that means if you are?" he asked as fingers grasped a glass shard and removed it from a forearm.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya groaned as she was laid out on the bench, but got a good look at the man's face. He seemed to be in his late twenties, and had long hair that was flung all about his face, partially obscuring what he looked like. As he bent over her, he smiled a little. His hair swung out of the way, and Arya mused, He would look a lot better if he was clean shaven...

As the self-proclaimed Turbogeek began probing her body, Arya winced, and tried to answer one of his questions. But he piled another one on top of the others, "Are you a female? Could you explain what that means if you are?"

Frell, talk to your mother. No, your father. Oh, what the frell. He had his hands all over her anyway. "Female, means I don't have this." Arya lifted her arm that had fallen off the bench and ran her hand over his crotch. The man gasped and jerked back.

She half smiled at his expression, and then passed out.

[Darth Turbogeek]

As she touched him, he squawked and quickly moved backwards.

“Hey, that tickled! Don’t do…. Oh, you gone to sleep again…. Hello?” Damn. Now did she mean she didn’t have one of these… he glanced down, thinking. Didn’t have… that? Well to be honest he didn’t know if anyone else did have that… thing. Okay, so what? He undid his cloak and just looked down, rather puzzled. Some beings stopped, other giggled. Some other…. Womans? Stared in admiration. Unembarrassed he did his cloak up – now WHY was Master Jeseth laughing so much?

“Jeseth… what’s funny? Is there something wrong?”

“No…. no…. “ Jeseth regained control, but not without a smirk on his face. “Turbogeek, just let me explain something to you. Now lets start from the beginning…”

The young man listened at first intently, then in surprise, then in outright shock. He glanced up at stared at Arya, before turning to listen as Jeseth explained another piece. Eventually Jeseth finished and just let Turbogeek think it through. He did, glancing once against that the young woman on the bench, before he could contain himself any longer.

“That’s…. that’s… DISGUSTING!!!! Why would anyone want to do that for?!?!” he said outraged.

“Well, because it’s… fun” replied Jeseth, trying desperately not to laugh again.

“Fun?! FUN?!?! That’s the single most stomach churning thing I have heard so far! How can you be serious when you say sex is fun?! Jeseth, why do humans allow themselves to DO such a thing?!?!?”

“Don’t know. Why don’t you find out?”

“NO! I want no part of ….. blech! I don’t even want to think about it! C’mon Jeseth, you cant be telling me the truth…”

“I am Turbogeek, I am. Maybe one day you’ll find out for yourself”

Turbogeek gave his master a baleful look. “Yeah right. I might catch… germs or something. I really don’t want to know more about this”

“Well, you were the one asking”

He sighed. “Well….. suppose so. Can we go now?”

Jeseth leered at Turbogeek. “Going to bring your lady friend along? Maybe sex later for being a hero?” He instantly wished he didn’t say it when he saw the look of pure anger come over Turbogeek’s face. That was the problem here. You were dealing with the power of a Jedi Master with the emotional state of a 4 year old. The last temper tantrum had been rather spectacular…. “Bring her along if you wish”

“Yeah, I wish. But NO SEX and we’re not going to talk about this again!”

“Allright” Jeseth sighed, despite the humour in the situation. There had been rumours of the original Turbogeek and the powers he controlled. It was very hard to work out what the clone knew and didn’t know and as the clone learned, it would be harder and harder to keep the power under control. Maybe Trace Sha was right. Maybe this clone should have been killed outright. It was too late now, the path was chosen.

Turbogeek picked with Arya again, dismissing from his mind the rather gross concepts of sex and gender as he did so. “Okay. Lets go Master Jeseth. I need to fix her”

[Jeseth Cloak]

Fix her.

Jeseth thought about what Turbogeek had said. It was somewhat humorous that he thought out on ways to "fix" a living being... but it wasn't so far fetched. Suddenly, in a fading wave of emotions, Jeseth could feel something he had long forgotten. A woman clutching at a marble floor, her throat sliced cleanly open, blood pouring profusely onto Jeseth's hands. He had knelt before the woman, his eyes streaming an endless supply of tears... He had lost her.

I couldn't fix her...

Gears and rotors pulled Jeseth back into the moment, a land-speeder zooming by.

"Master Jeseth? Master Jeseth?!"

Turbogeek yelled out at him. Apparently the Dark Jedi had gotten lost in thought for longer than he could account for. They were already within minutes of the landing area.

"Yes?"

His voice sounded somewhat lost, perhaps as if focused on other things.

"Do women... females... do they serve any other purpose besides... well... besides that."

For a while, they walked in silence as Jeseth gathered up his emotions, or what little was left of them. Turbogeek just waited, seemingly impatient.

"Well??"

"Yes."

The answer was short, curt, and cut off. Jeseth didn't want to talk about it, but his apprentice didn't know any better than to inquire further. He hadn't fully learned to read human expressions and emotions, or even mannerisms.

"What is that?"

"You'll find out on your own someday."

"Why can't you tell me NOW?"

Turbogeek continued to pry, his master's aggressive tone seeming to have no affect towards putting an abrupt end to the conversation.

"I don't want to talk about it. Now unless you want me to talk about it again, I suggest we drop this conversation now."

The young man frowned. He hated not having his questions answered... but for this once, he'd have to find out without any guidance at all. Jeseth would never address the issue of love...

[Arya Ravenwing]

He held her tightly against him. "Arya, we'll never be apart, I promise." Their lips met, and then she squealed with laughter as he tickled her....

Arya chuckled slightly, "Aaron..." Her eyes popped open, and then squeezed shut as the light flooded her head with pain. She was being cradled in the man's arms, so the movement wasn't as bumpy as before. He was definetely strong...and she was at his mercy. 'Turbogeek' and his silent companion.

She peered at the other with her mind's eye as they continued onward. He was dark and brooding...and didn't really want her along. No, there was something else. He's lost someone too, like I did.

A sudden stop jolted her, and she groaned. The man looked down in concern. "We're almost there. I'll fix you, and you'll be better." Arya tried to shake her head, and then gave up as pain shot up and down her spine.

"Wha- where... Where is 'there?'" She felt like her head was stuffed with cotton. This is terrible. I need to be in control! But they had to be the ones that Hunter had wanted her to meet. So wherever 'there' turned out to be, Arya knew she would stay.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Screams. A explosion. Someone falling off a bridge… a yell of horror ripped from his throat….

He shook his head, getting rid of that odd image, which was similar to the odd flashes he got now and then. Now what was THAT one all about?

In the end, this was all just confusing. All these concepts and things to learn and he just beginning to find out somethings were not worth learning about in the first place. But, if you didn’t ask, you wouldn’t know, would you? The first few days had been filled with questions and answers over simple things, expanded into more complex subjects. Learning was a pure joy and to make connections in the jigsaw puzzle that was his mind, oddly disjoined things he had learned were memories that he didn’t understand. He never mentioned to Jeseth that these memories had spoken to him on occasion, usually when he was feeling frustrated or in his sleep. Or under stress, just as one did when he set the ground on fire at that place filled with Light coloured people… and that… man of No Colour.

Turbogeek shuddered just thinking about that frightening vision. Or of that Light coloured man that told him there would be things told about who he was that wasn’t true. Up to now, he didn’t really think about it but with this disturbing discussion on sex, he really had to wonder. Just so much he was learning day by day and he generally accepted everything as the concept of lying was something he didn’t know of. Now, he could still not believe that this thing called sex could be right. It really just grated against him and was just plain gross, he didn’t really understand why. So much he just didn’t understand but accepted, because that was just the way things were it seemed. His curious mind still sought answers, but it catalogued the questions he did have and placed the more important ones in front. The ones that were self explaining if he the concepts were put forward. How one walked. How one talked. Need for sleep. Beings. Ships flying. Simple things.

But here was something that just wasn’t simple and straightforward. Why would anyone just do this sex act and not have a real reason? Just having …. Offspring, was that the word Jeseth used? … wasn’t reason enough. Too much… too much to think of! He would have to explore the data pads of Vjun to find out the reason, but for now there was more immediate things to consider. Like this Arya’s question.

“Well here is the spaceship Jeseth has. I have a pretty good medical set up in there that I built myself! Bit crude, but I think it will help you be fixed. What happened to you to need to be fixed like this? It must have hurt. You might have to come to Vjun with us but after that, well I suppose you can go where you like. Vjun my home, I can show you around and there is a really nice little girl too who helps really well”

He shifted Arya to get a new hold. I hope we get to the ship soon, he thought.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Her neck hurt, and she hoped Turbogeek was correct about the "fixing." Arya leaned her head on his chest and allowed her eyes to close, but she let images filter in from her mind. The spaceport was just ahead, and they would be there soon.

The man holding her shifted his hands, and she felt his muscles moving as he cradled her against himself. Vjun...little girl... Nothing was making sense to her in the haze of her injuries.

Then Turbogeek stumbled a little, a short alien bumping into his legs, and something wrenched in her back. Arya cried out as what felt like a white hot poker in her brain stem overloaded her pain receptors.

Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she slipped back into the Void.

[Force Master Hunter]

:: He followed from a good distance, hand never far from his gun. So far as far as he could see, things had worked well, although the appearence of what he now saw was the somehow living Darth Turbogeek was disturbing. He had already encountered DT once after he should he been no more than a rotting crisp.

He knew of Jeseth Cloak and his connections to The Black Hand already. Was the survival of Turbogeek some sort of TBH plot? He considered that to be likely. The attractiveness of having what was possibly the most powerful Jedi in recent existance working with you would have been quite something - but the question remained was how. Hunter couldn't think of any way the ex-Jedi Master could have lived and despite the fact that the Spirit of DT had been reported, there was no known way for a Jedi to return to life from that state. However it had happened would be of truly vital importance - so in the future, it could be prevented.

Which made this all the more puzzling. Careful to keep himself hidden with the Force he ducked out of sight as he saw the small party get to small ship. Okay... it seemed Arya was at least going to Vjun. Hopefully she was going to be kept in one piece.

The chace cube was cast now. He could only trust she would keep her wits and stay alive. ::

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth watched as his apprentice loaded the woman into a seat, tending to her wounds with the crude devices which he had very cleverly put together. By galactic standards the medical "facility" would be considered below average... but considering the tools that Turbogeek had worked with, and poorly diagramed models the computer had given him, it was a remarkable feet. He only stood idle there for a few seconds, then turned his head towards the cockpit as the loading hatch sealed shut with a hydraulic hiss. His apprentice had questioned him too deeply this once... and it hurt. He didn't know why it hurt... it just did. For once, he was left speechless.

His hands wandered over the controls for the ship, starting the engines up and initiating a lift sequence. He didn't really care what happened anymore... he'd need to sleep to understand things again. Sleep always helped to clear his mind, and some months he saw as little as 12 full hours of sleep...

"Watch the ship... If we get into any trouble, wake me."

He almost smiled at the thought of Turbogeek finding someone who might be important to him, or even worth "fixing." Jeseth wouldn't find that, but his apprentice still might... It was something to think about, too. Something to sleep on.

[Darth Turbogeek]

He wasn’t really listening to anything outside of him now, the only thing he was paying attention to was to that Voice that spoke in his mind. It talked to him now and then, told him what he should do. It told him what to do at the place all the Jedi were, it told him things that he never would have imagined in his wildest thoughts. But mostly, it told him how to fix things. Not really mechanical things, which to the main he didn’t understand. No, beings. Living things. He could see in his…. Mind? What was wrong with accuracy and speed. Jeseth thought it wasn’t normal and had said so on occasion, usually when Turbogeek was applying the regular Bacta treatments Jeseth needed.

Hence he had created an alarmingly good medical facility on Jeseth’s ship. Not exactly with decent equipment, more like just junk. But it was incredibly effective. Even more remarkable was the change in attitude Turbogeek had working with the equipment – from bubbling, curious, childlike, he went silent and solemn as well as 100% professional. It was almost like a mental shift into a different setting, or like something else taking over his mind. Jeseth had watched once and had failed to understand it, saying it could be part of a … mental stamp? That had taken properly. Turbogeek couldn’t understand that and Jeseth refused to be drawn further. Jeseth was like that occasionally on certain questions. Like as if there was something he preferred Turbogeek not know. Until now, the youngish man didn’t understand why he shouldn’t know some things, now he did. He would have preferred not to know anything about genders and sex. Not that he could understand it, he hadn’t been told enough, but it was enough to know he didn’t want to know further.

A small blip alerted him that the monitor noted she was waking again. He waited a moment, hand held surgical laser in hand after closing the deep cut on her arm until she seemed to be more awake

“Hi”. Even the voice was different, deeper and relaxing. “Don’t move too much, you seem to have a few internal injuries that need fixing and I’ll put you out shortly to do that. Firstly, do you have double vision or pain deep inside?”

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya slowly blinked, and looked into Turbogeek's dark eyes. They seemed different than before, more comforting and calm. As she blinked he split in two, and then merged again. Her head pounded, and there was a pain in her torso that she couldn't pinpoint.

As she opened her mouth to tell him, her eyes widened a little, and then she vomited. She managed to turn her head to the side, avoiding throwing up on herself, but the man wasn't so lucky. Arya could see some on his leg by the bedside...or whatever it was she was lying on. She closed her eyes.

"Double vision...and the pain..." She wanted to spit the horrible taste from her mouth. It was like last year's Mon Cal fish dinner...and smelled like it too. "Both...Head...hurts..."

She kept her eyes closed, but tears started to leak out from under her lids.

[Darth Turbogeek]

:: He was mildy surprosed by the sudden ..... vomiting? never actually seen it before he simply accepted it. He would clean it up later, even if it did smell vile. The woman had described some thing fairly serious tho....

"Not sure what the problem is, but the voice in my mind suggest you have concussion and I know you have internal injuires. What I want to do is put you under for a while and give you some bacta time, after I've done some fix bits. Okay?"

He didnt wait for an answer. He pressed two fingers to her temples and she fell limp. Allright.

Feeling the ship rock and move, he knew they were taking off, preumably for Vjun. After a while, He noted Jeseth came into the med room after they were well and truly out of the atmosphere. Turbogeek hadn't realised he had been working on the woman for that long....

"How is she?"

"She can be fixed. Just almost got her ready for bacta time"

"Oh?" Jeseth noted Turbogeek had opened up a long incision and had been doing something to her intestines. He alsomost puked at that. "Turbogeek, WHAT are you doing? And what did you knock her out with?"

"She had broken stuff in there. I put her to sleep with touch... " he pointed " here and here. She wont wake up until I tell her to"

Jeseth almost tripped. Turbogeek placed her in a Jedi trance...? It was absurd. He hardly knew how to take a leak, yet the clone was abloe to do things that took years to learns. Jeseth wondered again what exactly the memory flash had given Turbogeek. And what would prompt more of the buried memories to surface. If they were buried at all. "Goo... Good. We are making a detour. I have business to attend to"

Turbogeek nodded, not listening. Concentrating on fixing the woman. Trying to get that image out of his mind about dancing. Trying to dodge the feeling that somehow destiny had been given a sneak preview.

Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Suspended in the Void, Arya was battered by images, sensations and feelings. There was blood, lots of blood. Children screamed...but they were Twi'lek girls from her childhood, screaming in play.

Then she felt it coming, and -

Flash.

She saw herself, under a table, or behind a wall of some kind. The vision shifted, details changing slightly. Always in motion is the future. The dream Arya turned to her right, and looked at...at Turbogeek. He was clean shaven and his hair was trimmed short -or pulled back in a neat ponytail. It kept changing, but the result was very nice looking.

Arya looked at Turbogeek, and fiddled with something on her blaster. "Where is he?" Her voice was less than a whisper.

He looked back at her, and then looked around a corner. Making no noise, he ducked back. Right there , his lips said. She nodded, and crawled up to the corner, inching past him. His hand reached out, stopping her, and she turned to look at him.

Flash.

Two sweaty bodies, sheets tangled and legs sticking out over the matress. A male voice.... "Not what I expected."

Flash.

A man dressed in shadows loomed over a woman, and a flaming sword appeared in his hands. The woman did not scream, but looked beyond the man...to another man. He reached out his hands, as if pleading for her life. "I love you!"

Flash.

The future is in motion, what may be can be seen, what is will be seen, and what has been was experienced.

Arya tumbled about in the Void, falling towards...

...towards what? Destiny? Was her life to this point only a prologue? Perhaps the true story was still yet to come.