Premonitions in the Darkness, part 2 [completed]

[Lilaena De'Ville]

<a href=http://pub58.ezboard.com/fcandelabraofmalicefrm6.showMessage?topicID=34.top ic>Part 1</a>
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De'Ville paced the floor in her Sith Infiltrator, her new ship. Upon entrance to TBH, her old one had been destroyed. It was just as well. The new ship was designated Revenge. And revenge she would have on those who crossed her.

Like Sorsha Kasajian. And Sanis Prent. Those two would both pay for their audacity towards her.

Lilaena checked the baby, and then walked to the cockpit as the ship prepared to leave hyperspace. Settling in her seat she checked the transponder, and left it as it was. No one knew the designation of her new ship. No one, but perhaps Prent. And he was still on Myrkr as far as she knew. Soon she would find out his location. Just a few hours, in fact.

Hyperspace reverted to real space, and the planet of Coruscant loomed in front of her viewscreen. She narrowed her eyes at the memories that surfaced, all in connection with her home planet. After the vision she had had four nights previously...there was someone she needed to see. One last favor to call in.

If Tondry were on the planet, as he well might be, then the favor would not be called. If not...she had an old accquaintance to visit.

De'Ville relayed her course to TGE ground control for clearance to dock near Imperial Center.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Permission granted for landing on Pad 34-C5, do you want a tractor in, Revenge?"

De'Ville toggled the comm, "Negative Control, I'll come in manual."

"Do not deviate from your course, Revenge. Enjoy your stay in Imperial City. Keep this comm channel open until you are docked."

"Affirmative Control." De'Ville brought the Infiltrator inside the immense planetary shields, and fixed on the landing beacon with her sensors. Twenty minutes later she was docked, and the Revenge was being prepared for towing to its berth. Holding Jax in a sling around her body, a bag hanging off her shoulder, De'Ville made for the airtaxi that was waiting for her, and took a seat.

The vision niggled at her brain, and she put her arms around her son. He looked at her, and she smiled down at him, vowing to keep him safe. There was one place he would be safe, and it was here, among all the people of Coruscant.

Her last contact with Darven had been...tense, to say the very least. But he was one of the two she would trust with her child's life. And if she could not find Pierce, then she would find Darven.

[Darth Viscera]

A disturbance in the force, a familiar presence.

"De'Ville."

Good that she should decide to take refuge on Imperial Center. The Empire can protect her from the wrath of her former comrades, for they would not dare cross us.

Stay safe, Lilaena De'Ville. My senses tell me you are in great danger. At your convenience, I can provide you with Imperial Guardsmen...or Noghri, if you prefer.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She looked around her, and ducked into a small alcove off of the pathway she had been traversing. Some one had spoken to her, or attempted to through the Force. In such a huge planet packed with people, her mind blocks were so severe that little to nothing could trickle through when she was actively reinforcing it.

And she had been. It would do no good to Jax if his mother became incapacitated by a stray emotion from a complete stranger. It had never happened...but the possibility was there, however extreme it seemed.

There only were a few known Force users who roamed Coruscant, however. And prime among them was Viscera, the Diktat of TGE. During her years at the Sith Order, he had also been a member there, and they had spent a considerable amount of time in relatively close quarters. Deductively, it had to be him.

Of course, if it wasn't...or even if it was, she had not heard the message, only felt it. It had not appeared to be hostile. Yet the gauntleted hand from her vision...it could have represented TGE. Perhaps Viscera was trying to lure her into a trap.

De'Ville pulled her dark blue cloak over her hair and draped it around her body, concealing Jax underneath it. Her first priority was to locate Darven. If Pierce was on the planet, he would finid her. He had promised that he could, and she believed him. The woman moved back out into the flow of foot traffic, ready to leave Imperial City proper behind her. Or rather, above her.

[Darven Calmoarn]

There is a scuffle in the dank passageway in front of our group, and a shout from de'Bith. The men look around anxiously, their arms laden with pilfered goods from the upper levels. We've taken to stealing from the current Imperials, most of the storage rooms are low enough to raid without a lot of effort on our part.

Markoth shouts again, his tone one of fear rather than surprise now. I push past the other men, and run to the front of the raiding party. "What -!"

I almost say, What is going on?, but as I reach the front I can see what has happened. De'Bith must have been surprised by a figure dropping out of a ventilation shaft in front of him. As anyone would be.

However, when the figure turned around the face had been one he recognized. The woman. "Lilaena?" I rub my hand over my face in confusion. "What in the seven layers of hell are you doing here?"

She pushes past Markoth, who is more than willing to let her by, and touches my shoulder. I flinch away. "I need to talk to you. Now. It is what I could not tell you at the casino." Her voice is low and urgent sounding.

I shake my head, "Lilaena, you made your feelings clear. I think you should leave." I let my voice harden. "Leave me be." There is pain beneath my words, but I don't think she hears it. Instead what we all hear is the muffled sound of a baby crying.

She reaches a hand under her cloak, and looks at me. "Darven..."

"I don't know what you -" Before I can finish my refusal, I make the mistake of looking into her eyes. There are smudges on her pale face, and her eyes are huge in the darkness. What little light there is flickers in the depths of them, and she holds up her free hand in a gesture of appeal.

Lilaena shakes her head, and seems to fumble for a word. "Please."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Two hours later, wrapped in a scratchy blanket in front of an enclosed fire, De'Ville turned to Calmoarn as Jax nursed. "I am...grateful that you are letting me talk to you."

He stiffened. "You had better make this good." After the long walk back to his 'city under the city,' Darven had gotten more and more withdrawn. He dispised her, hated what she had become. And she hated him for his disgust. Yet...there was a part that was saddened by his utter refusal of her lifestyle. She hid her momentary confusion by adjusting Jax in her arms. Darven continued, "Like tell me about the baby. Who's is it?"

"'It' is mine. His name is Jax." She allowed herself the satisfaction of watching his eyes pop open in surprise. With her teeth Lilaena pulled off her glove on her left hand, and she held it up, letting the gold band glint in the firelight. "I married about eight months ago. I need to get him to his father, because I am not safe."

She started at her own comment. "I am not safe"? Is that true? Brushing away her thoughts, she went on hurriedly. "I mean, it is not safe. I feel danger coming. I need to get him to his father."

Darven frowned. "Why didn't you just hand him to him?"

"I have not seen my husband since the birth two months ago. I though I might find him here, but he is not on Coruscant." De'Ville leaned towards Darven and touched his hand. "I trust you with my child's life, Darven. Can you help me?"

[Darven Calmoarn]

I look at her, her face still thin in the dancing firelight. Most of me wants to refuse, to send her out from my world forever. There is another part though....one which tells me I cannot refuse. Common sense alone tells me that a Sith witch can very well have her way whenever she wants it.

But Lilaena has come here, not with designs to overpower and over come, but to ...to ask. It boggles my mind to think of it. Perhaps there is something worth saving in her still. I finally sigh, and slowly I nod my head yes. "I will help you, Lilaena, if it is in my power to do so."

I add fuel to the fire, and stare into the flames for a minute, while I can hear the child contentedly nursing. I smile, "Noisy, isn't he."

Lilaena nods, a slight smile crossing her face as she adjusts the baby's position. "Yes. He is out to get all he can from life." The blankets fall slightly and I see a tiny red birthmark on the boy, but in the shadows I cannot make out the shape. She turns to me, and finally addresses the issue she came to speak about.

"I need you to take him. Take my Jax, and find his father. It isn't safe for him to remain with me."

I sit for a moment, allowing her words to register fully. "You want me to leave Coruscant? With a baby?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville nodded. "Yes. I want you to take Jax off planet."

Darven was having problems comprehending her request, and she didn't really blame him. "Darven, it isn't like I'm asking you to give up your left arm. He's only a baby, and I'm not asking you to leave Coruscant forever." She worked hard to keep the edge of frustrated anger out of her voice.

After Darkserpent had kidnapped Jax, she had feared she wouldn't see him again alive. And now she was willing to hand him off to Darven -- her child, precious beyond what others could sense. It was not sensible to choose this course of action, yet one man might succeed where tens of thousands failed every day.

Darven, alone and unaided by the Force... De'Ville shivered to think of what Live Wire could do to him without even trying. If it was The Sith Order that was coming for her as she feared, then it was better to get as far away from Jax as she could. Putting the baby with a non-Force user would make him less noticable. Jax was Force sensitive, yet one would have to be specifically searching and testing to find that out. At two and a half months, he was much to young to be of any concern to anyone.

At least, that was the hope.

"Darven." He was staring into the fire, and started when she spoke his name. "Darven, can you do this for me?"

[Darven Calmoarn]

I poke at the fire, watching the sparks spiral upwards, and look back at my old friend. "Yes. Lilaena, I can do this for you."

She closes her eyes momentarily, and shifts the baby to her arms, holding him close as his eyes begin to sleepily droop. "Thank you Darven." She speaks as though it is something she thinks I need to hear.

As she opens her eyes, I hold up one hand. "One thing. Where should I start looking for this husband of yours? Munto Cordru? Or perhaps Yavin?" Her eyes snap at the mention of those planets, and I backtrack hurriedly. "Or maybe you had another place in mind."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She glared at the mention of the planet of the Jedi. "Try Arcan IV first. He may have business there now, or in the near future." De'Ville held her son close to her, inhaling his sweet scent.

[Darven Calmoarn]

I still don't know how she did it, but here I am, sitting in an older freighter, and streaking through hyperspace. TGE Control cleared me for take off about twenty minutes ago.

I run my hand through my thick curly hair, and tug at it a little. I'm not a small man, in fact, most would call me imposing, but when it comes to Lilaena I just can't tell her no. Its a frelling problem. She had handed her son, Jax Ivanrue Tondry, to me, and slipped off into the darkness three hours previously.

"I must go, Darven. Take him, please." Her eyes plead with me, and I take a deep breath. Finally I hold my arms out and the squirming child is pressed up against me.

Lilaena looks at her son, and I can almost feel her heart breaking. She leans over him, her head touching my chest as she kisses her son good bye. I feel a pang, and find myself thinking about what could have been. If only she had never left.

Straightening, she is all business again. "There is a freighter in storage, just a few sections over." Lilaena rattles off the numbers as I juggle the baby and his blankets. "The designation is Madeline. Tondry will recognize it, and that is why I want you to use it. She's a little older than I'd like, but Madeline will take you to Arcan IV." She bends down, rumaging in her bag she'd carried slung over her shoulder through the vents.

How she'd made it down here, carrying a baby and with that bag on her back...I don't really want to know how she did it. Lilaena cursed softly, and then pulled a datapad out, handing it to me. "Everything you need to know about Jax is on that. How to care for him, feed him, and the schedule he keeps."

"Lilaena," I interrupt, "Shouldn't a woman be taking care of -"

"No!" Her eyes flash fire momentarily. "Darven, I can only trust you. Remember the night on Vorzsyd? Please, don't trust anyone. Find Tondry. His picture and all the information I can give you is on the datapad. Do not let that out of your sight, for your saftey as well as all of ours."

Three more minutes and then she'd been gone, slipping away into the greasy shadows of the underworld. And here I am, sitting in a freighter, rocking a baby to sleep. Lilaena's baby.

The only problem I can see is that the child isn't mine.

I sigh, and see that the infant is finally asleep. Getting to my feet I walk him to the bed I'd set up for him, and lay him down a little awkwardly. His faces scrunches up in his sleep, and then his little fist finds his mouth, and he is soon sucking on the back of his hand. As I watch him, sleep finally overcomes him completely, and the sucking stops completely.

Tondry, whoever you are, you are one lucky sonofabitch. I turn and walk back to the cockpit, counting down the hours until I arrive at Arcan IV, and memorizing the face of the man who had won Lilaena.