Truth, Lies, and a Tainted Love

[Live Wire]

OOC: Open to any jedi who want to participate but please contact either myself or Gav before posting.

A quick trip to Coruscant and back. A quick trip. Live Wire kept telling herself that as she prepped The Lightning’s Strike for takeoff. There was a lot going on at TSO right now. They had broken of their alliance with TSE, they were making several planet grabs and she needed to be there. However as the spokeswoman at TSO her diplomatic skills took her away from Corellia at inopportune moments. This was one of them.

Their mechanics had done an excellent job of repairing the Strike after her last scrape with pirates around Nar Shadda. She made sure that Ariel was sleeping quietly in her room and left her nanny with strict instructions not to let her wander around the ship. There were to many places for a child to get into and get hurt and Ariel was getting into everything and driving her mother crazy. She would have left Ariel at TSO but she never entrusted her daughter with anyone besides Lady Vader who just happened to be off planet.

LW made her way to the cockpit and sat down with a sigh. Just a short trip, she told herself again. Flight Control cleared her for take off and the Strike shot off the landing platform past the tree line and headed for space. Her astromech droid R7-D9 rolled up to her questioningly.

“Just a quick trip seventy-nine. I have some business to take care of on Coruscant.”

Truth be told, Live Wire hated that overgrown city planet. Too many people crammed into to little space. Though the view from space was truly unique with all of the city lights radiating for miles. Some things only had beauty from afar and Coruscant was one of them.

She sent the information to the nava-computer and waited for it to finish the calculations for their jump into hyperspace. Just a short trip… The strike jumped into hyperspace leaving Corellia behind. The stars became a swirling mosaic of light around the view port and LW sunk down in her chair. Just a short trip… so why did she have such a bad feeling about this?

[Space Pirates]

Jeniver Thiwen rolled her eyes at the sound of the party in the next room. They should have been on watch not drowning in booze. She walked into the room her black boots clinking on the hard floor.

“Do you think you can find SOMETHING productive to be doing?” She picked up the nearest mug and tossed it against the far wall where it hit with a clang spilling its content over Len Garyn her second in command and lover. The room was quiet as she stood there fuming. Len walked over to her and tried to put his arm around her but she slapped it away. Her green eyes narrowed and he backed off.

“Come on we’re just trying to have a little fun. It’s been a slow week.”

She cast an angry glance over everyone else. Her short brown hair bounced about her ears as she turned on her heel and stalked out. It had been a slow week. Ever since they lost their hand in the spice trade their profits had been going down and with the not so veiled threats from the Cizerack that anyone encroaching on their territory would be summarily disemboweled their opportunities were small. It was supposed to have been a temporary setback. But that temporary setback had lasted almost two years.

So they sat and they waited, raiding ships that were unlucky enough to pass through the net of the interdictor cruiser. One of the few things they had from the more profitable days. Jeniver remembered back when she was a respectable smuggler and she was bitter that she was reduced to this. She had a list of people who she held responsible for the degradation of her standard of living and they would suffer, as soon as her financial situation looked up.

Most of her good smugglers had moved on, trying to eek out a living on their own rather unsuccessfully. Only a few like Len had stayed with her loyally through the hard times. They had watched her go from a supportive leader to a bitter angry tyrant of a woman and she knew many were getting tired of it. It was only her ability to pull them out of incredibly rough spots time and time again that kept them together.

She walked back to the view port and stared out at the empty space. Empty just like her life had been for the past two years. She hit the wall in anger and the fact that it didn’t even make a mark didn’t improve her disposition. She turned and flopped down in her chair. This was a waiting game. One she had to hope would pay off.

[Live Wire]

Live Wire drummed her fingers against the arm of her chair lazily. She hadn’t been able to shake the feeling of nervousness since she left TSO. Getting up she went into the back to check on Ariel. Before she reached her room she stopped to pick up her lightsaber and her boot blaster from the table. She did it instinctually not even really asking why she was fastening her saber to her belt when they were in the middle of a routine hyperspace jump.

As she opened the door she heard Ariel squeal and she saw her toddle forward. LW scooped up the little girl into her arms planting a kiss on her cheek. She sat down in a chair and Ariel clung to her happy to be safe in her mother arms.

There was no use conferring with the nanny about the uneasiness she’d been experiencing since the woman was not force sensitive. Of course that choice had been intentional for her daughters safety. Ariel whined as her mother sat her down. She knelt down next to her and gave her another big hug. “Stay here, mommy has to check on something. I’ll be right back.”

There was a frown on LW’s face as she went back to the cockpit. Suddenly her uneasiness had escalated into a full-blown panic. By the time she hit the cockpit door she was running. She threw herself into the chair and started prepping the strike to come out of hyperspace. They would take a longer route to Coruscant. But before she could do anything the star lines before her reverted back into little points of light and the Strike was thrown back into normal space. She swore as the momentum of the Strike carried them further into the range of the interdictor cruiser.

Immediately she hit the distress call button sending it out on all channels. The Strike was a well-equipped ship but from the look of the blockade she’d need more then a little luck to get out of this one. She should have known to trust her instinct, now she had endangered herself and Ariel.

[Space Pirates]

Jeniver had calmed down now that the party had broken up. Her people were milling about the ship making sure they were busy or at least looked busy. Len stood behind her chair silently observing. He stepped forward with concern in his eyes. “You know things will start looking up soon, luv.”

She really wasn’t in the mood to listen to his pep talks. Sometimes she found them encouraging or even sweet but other times they were infuriating. Now was one of those times. Her look was cold but he braved it and kissed the top of her head. Even if he was aggravating he always made clear how much he cared for her and was willing to stand by her. For that she was always grateful.

She was about to thank him for his support, even if he did go about it the wrong ways, when alarms started going off. They startled her and she sat up straight in her chair. “No way!” She leapt out of the chair barking orders.

“Move the ships in! I don’t want them getting away. Get tractor beams on them.”

Finally someone ran into their trap. From the look of the ship and the specs they were getting on the sensors whoever owned this ship had some source of money. It had been heavily customized and those types of modifications didn’t come cheap. This could be the pay off they were waiting for. Suddenly the ship was rocked with weapons fire.

“Fire back! But don’t destroy the ship. I want whatever there is of value in tact.”

She had an evil gleam in her eye as their lasers hit the ship crippling it. As she looked closer she realized she had encountered this particular ship before. There were very few ships with these types of specs on them. There could only be one person aboard this ship and she had a score to settle with them.

[Liam Jinn]

Coruscant. Not really the best place for a vacation, but it was easy enough for a Jedi Master to keep a low profile. Liam had been there for 3 months when he ran into an old friend from GJO. After talking with Warren, he had decided it was time to come back. His ship, The Nebulon, wasn't in as good of shape as he would have preferred, but Liam couldn't force himself to just leave it on Coruscant until the repairs were done. He wanted to get off that planet, even if it meant a breakdown or two along the way. So along the way, it broke down.

Lifting his head from out of the bowels of the ship, Liam shouted, "All right, it should work now."

Warren came walking down the hallway laughing. "Did I ever tell you how much I loved your ship, Liam?"

"Funny. How'd you like to float back to GJO?" Liam said with a grin. The computers voice came on the intercom informing the jedi of a distress call. Liam lifted his body from out of the crevasse he was working in and sighed. "Guess I've gotta get used to this again."

In the cockpit he located the ship that was sending the distress call and let out another sigh. "Alright, I'm punching in the coordinates now. Warren tell them that we'll be there soon enough."

[Live Wire]

Live Wire felt the jolt of the ship as their tractor beams engaged. This was getting worse by the second. She charged weapons and targeted their tractor beams. Two of the arrays exploded but as she turned the ship to make a run for it their lasers hit the Strike knocking out its weapons and its engines. Now she was a sitting duck. The Strike was dead in the water and slowly being pulled toward the invading ships.

As she got up she saw a red light flashing. Someone had received her distress call. Help of some form was on the way. Now all she had to do was hold out till they got here. She ran to the back of the strike and locked Ariel and her nanny in the back. She gave the woman a blaster and left her with instructions to shoot anything that came through the door.

Glancing out a view port she could see the ships coming closer into view. “Frell it!” She had run into these pirates before and she knew that this time they had the upper hand. They would definitely not be happy to see her again. Not after last time.

She threw her cloak in a corner so it wouldn’t restrict her movement and she waited for them to come. If need be she’d die to protect Ariel because she knew these particular pirates would not be ones to show mercy.

[Space Pirates]

With blaster out Jeniver headed down to the docking hatch. This was one ship she was going to board herself. “Change of plans boys. Take whatever you find of value, and kill anyone on board. But leave the mistress of the ship to me.” Len looked at her surprised. They were pirates now yes but killing people wasn’t in their job description. She shot him a look and he remained quiet. This was not something she was going to be challenged on if they didn’t like the orders they could leave now.

They pulled the strike and docked above it. The sounds of them cutting through the hatch echoed through the ship. Even if they didn’t find much of value this find was definitely going to be worth the effort.

She was the first one through the hatch and she had her blaster at ready. Her boots clinked on the floors. She had never been inside the ship before but she was right, it was very luxurious. She whirled around as she heard a whirring noise and fired. It was just an astromech droid who was now smoking from the dome. She gave the signal for her men to spread out and plunder whatever they could find.

She made her way to the cockpit but it was empty. She could see the underbelly of her own ship from the view port and smiled. Yes this time she was the one in control. Before she knew it something slammed her from behind and knocked her forward. Strong arms went around her neck choking off her air supply.

“Jeniver Thiwen, I thought I told you to stay out of my way!” Live Wire growled angrily.

Jeniver hit her in the gut forcing her to release her grip. She turned around and pointed her blaster at LW only to find a blaster pointed at her own head. “Actually I think I told you that if I saw you again I’d kill you.”

LW gave a look that said just try. LW got a force grip around her neck but Jeniver smiled and got her own grip around LW’s neck. LW looked at her in shock. Someone had trained her. Simultaneously they released their hold on each other. That would get them nowhere. LW taunted her, “So someone’s been teaching you? Well you’re still a washed up smuggler and a wannabe sith so don’t waste your time.” Jeniver was about to strike her when they heard a scream.

[Live Wire]

Live Wire was about to go for her saber when she heard a scream from the back. Without even thinking she shot Jeniver and ran. Curses came from the cockpit as Jeniver clutched her thigh. Such a quick reaction was unexpected and she had been distracted by the scream.

The yellow blade of her saber had been ignited as soon as she had left the cockpit. As she came around the corner she had blasters pointed at her face. It didn’t matter as she cut down the guy nearest to her. Quickly deflecting three blaster bolts she headed the rest of the way down the corridor and skidded to a stop. Ariel’s nanny had a nasty looking wound in her side and was lying in a crumpled heap near the door sobbing. The pirate guarding her had his back to her and before he could even turn and get off a shot she had stabbed him through the back with her saber. She knelt down by the sobbing woman trying to comfort her and ask where Ariel was.

“Looking for this?” A cold voice asked.

LW looked up, pure hatred in her eyes. Jeniver held an unconscious Ariel in her arms with a blaster pointed at her head. “What did you to do to her?” She deactivated her lightsaber and stood there ready to bargain for her daughter’s life.

“Oh she’s quite alright I assure you.” Jeniver could already taste vengeance “She’s sleeping peacefully.” Len came up to her and whispered something in her ear and her face turned red. “I see you’ve been busy, already taken down two of my men. Losing your touch Catherine?”

Intending to cut her throat LW advanced on Jeniver but the other woman just pressed the blaster harder against Ariel’s head. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Options were running out fast so she decided to be diplomatic. “What do you want Jeniver?”

[Space Pirates]

Now she was trying to negotiate with her? Jeniver laughed, she was not going to give up this opportunity for anything. Mercy was something she no longer felt in her heart, especially not for the woman before her. “I want you to suffer! I want to make you feel pain, loss just like you did to me!”

Around her the other pirates were heading back to their ship. They had taken whatever they felt was useful, which wasn’t much because it had been awhile since LW kept anything of value aboard the strike. Right now that didn’t really matter to Jeniver. She waited till it was just her and Len left on board then she spoke.

“You know what’s ironic I started learning to use my powers just because I wanted you dead. Now I’ve found they come in handy every now and then. Of course I came to the realization that whatever latent abilities I had wouldn’t compare to someone who’s spent a lifetime as a sith but I think I’ve found other ways to compensate.”

She handed the child over to Len who kept the blaster pointed at her head. A slight limp was obvious after she had been shot in the leg but she knew enough to be able to suppress most of the pain. She took out a small dagger and ran it under LW’s chin and up across her cheek where it left a thin cut.

“How does it feel sith Mistress? How does it feel to watch someone else in control of your life?” In anger she backhanded LW across the face. To her credit she stayed silent and bit her tongue when all she wanted to do was take her saber and cut them both to pieces. But she knew that even with the force there was no way she could do it before they sent a deadly blaster bolt through Ariel’s forehead.

Jeniver found the silence amusing. She reached down and took the saber from LW’s belt. Looking at it she ignited it, the yellow blade casting an eerie glow over the badly lit corridor. LW half expected to be killed by her own blade but instead Jeniver stabbed the nanny who had fallen unconscious where she lay.

LW flinched as the blade was slowly drawn from her body. The woman hadn’t deserved that. “Oh don’t be upset. You’ll be envying her before the day is over.”

[Live Wire]

“What you want me to beg for my life now? Cause I’m not about to give you the satisfaction.” She knew taunting Jeniver wasn’t the wisest thing to do but all she could hope for was to anger her enough that she would slip up and provide her with an opening. She cast a glance at Len. ‘I see you found a new toy since I killed your old one.” That was what this was all about after all. How does he feel knowing that you’re still holding a torch for your husband?”

A knife whizzed past her ear and embedded itself into the wall behind her. It was an intentional miss. Her cheek was stinging where it had been cut and it was making her angrier. “Is he just another pawn for you? He’s obviously not with you for the money. Of course I heard you reward your men in other ways. Jeralif did a lot of talking before I killed him you know.”

Jeniver’s face was getting redder and redder and LW decided it was time to keep quiet again. It was apparent that she was not going to give her even a small opportunity to gain the upper hand so now she was stalling for time. She had no idea who had received her distress call but she was praying they would get here soon.

[Space Pirates]

It was bait Jeniver knew it. LW wanted her to get mad and make a mistake. Well she wasn’t going to. Not this time. She just let her talk. The more she talked the worse it would be for her in the end.

“You talk big for someone who’s about to die. In case you didn’t know your ship is dead in space. Your engines, weapons, environmental controls are all gone. On top of that, and this is the part I really like, you’ve got two hull breaches so whatever oxygen you have left is slowly draining away. So you can sit here while your life slowly drains away knowing that you and your precious daughter will eventually suffocate and die together. I can only hope your death is as painful as you’ve made my life.”

Jeniver tossed LW back her lightsaber and laughed. They walked back towards the docking hatch with Ariel still in Len’s arms. “Oh and if you’re thinking of sending Ariel out in an escape pod, remember our blockades still out there and we’ll shoot anything we see coming from the ship.”

Len kept his blaster on Ariel until they were at the hatch knowing that given the chance the sith Lordess would decapitate him for even going near her daughter. Before they sealed the hatch Len set baby Ariel down on the floor where LW would find her. He hadn’t known that Live Wire had been the one who had killed Jeralif. All he had heard was that Jenvier’s husband had been killed by a sith and that Jeniver had vowed revenge. In a way he felt a small twinge of regret because the baby was an innocent. She was just being used to cause her mother more pain, it seemed a little unfair but he wasn’t the one to make the decisions.

Back on their ship Jeniver sat in her chair smiling. She would stay and watch as the life signs on the ship slowly dwindled away. Only then would she leave. She felt strangely calm as she waited she was finally going to put this part of her life behind her. Now maybe things really would start looking up.

[Live Wire]

LW had stayed where she was her heart pounding as she heard what was to be their death sentence. She had no idea how fast air was leaking from the crippled ship. If she got out of this one alive she would have Jeniver’s head mounted on her wall. When she heard the docking hatch close and the other ship pull away leaving them adrift she went and picked up Ariel.

There was so much anger in her heart it pushed out the sadness. “I’m sorry.” She whispered. “I failed you.” The thought of someone she had angered catching up to her was one she was used to. She had crossed to many people to think she could outrun them all. But to have Ariel a victim of her choices was not something she was prepared to deal with. With the way things looked she wouldn’t have to deal with it for long.

Taking Ariel back to her room she laid her on the bed and lay down next to her. She kept thinking if we could just hold out till help arrives. With the door sealed the air in the room should last longer that way. With one last look at the innocent face she put herself in a meditative trance to conserve oxygen. She would either wake up to a rescuer or never wake up at all. Whatever fate she was to face she resigned herself to

[Warren Azalin]

"Our Communications aren't getting through Liam."

The Jedi kept trying time after time to reach the source of the Distress Signal, but still there was no response. Warren hadn't yet ruled out the possibility that maybe Hyperspace was messing with the readings, after all this was Liam's ship he was on.

"Liam, one of these days you gotta tell me where you got this ship. It just keeps getting better and better..."

Even as the Jedi chuckled at the controls he could here a muffled "Oh Shut Up." Coming from the cockpit. He had expected such a response from Liam, after all Warren had offered to go back on his ship, but Liam wanted them to go in his.... Warren suddenly regretted that decision.

<center>....Bleep.....Bleep.....Bleep</center>

"Liam, come here you gotta see this.."

It seemed something was finally going their way as sonar began to pick up a few ships in the vicinity. Before Liam could reach him Warren had cross-checked the coordinates of the distress call and the coordinates of the ships, sure enough it was a mach.

"What do we got?" Liam said he walked beside Warren.

"Well seems we got a few ships, and one of them matches the coordinates of the distress call."

"Well what do you think? Imperials maybe?" asked Liam as he leaned over, trying to get a better view of the sonar readings.

"Not out here, my guess would be pirates. Shouldn't be too bad then. At any rate we'll be out of Hyperspace in a moment so we can see for ourselves."

Sure enough Warren was right as the stars around them began to blur back into visual range. They could finally see what the problem was, among the open space lay a few ships. Warren ran a cross check on a few of them and came up with some interesting results...

"Ok, we got a Cruiser, an unregistered ship... The pirates no doubt, and we got a ship registered as "The Lightning’s Strike" belonging to one, LW, Or as we would rather call her, Live Wire."

Warren looked on at both the Sith's ship and the Pirates. He didn't know why LW had sent out a distress signal but he didn't like it, not one bit.

<center>....Bleep.....Bleep.....Bleep</center>

Looking down at the sonar again Warren could see ships heading their way, Pirate Ships. Smiling he turned to Liam....

"Liam, I hope this ship has some weapons, cause in about 30 seconds we're going to need them..."

[Space Pirates]

Jeniver barely had enough time to sit down and relax when alarms started going off again. Two ships in the same day? Things just kept getting better and better. “Move the interdictor forward. Don’t let this one get away.” Len turned back to her, his face puzzled at the readings he was getting.

“Jen, this ship came out of hyperspace beyond the border of the Interdictors field. They meant to stop here.”

Her eyes narrowed. How would anyone know to come to this precise spot, unless? “Did the Strike send off any kind of transmission?”

“Yes ma’am.” Jeniver whirled and gave the officer an evil look. He looked like he wished he had kept his mouth shut but he continued. “Our sensors indicate just prior to disabling the ship it managed to get off a distress call.”

So that’s where this ship had come from. Someone was trying to be a Good Samaritan. Well this would be the last good deed they ever did. “What information on the ship can you get me?”

Len was busy trying to cross what info their sensors were getting with what was in the ships database. “It seems this ship belongs to a Jedi known as Liam Jinn.” There was an irony. The Jedi had arrived in response to a Sith’s distress call. They had gotten on so many peoples bad sides that she didn’t feel like adding the Jedi to that list.

“Send a message to them. Leave immediately or be destroyed. And just to prove our point lets move a little closer and charge up weapons. If they don’t comply, fire on them.” This was turning out to be a long day.

[Gav Mortis]

The sight of the shimmering surface of Lake Porelli under the waxing Corellian moon was what Gav looked forward to most each time he visited, which has been very rare as of late for reasons he has countlessly refused to disclosed. The midnight blue and dazzling white waltzed about the water's surface, the air in the valley was clean unlike the rest of the planet; everything was fresh, ripe and crisp. He sat leaned against the bark of a large weeping willow, surrounded by cascades of pale greens and white, each time a slight breeze broke through the hills, there was the haunting whistle of wind, accompanied by the swishing of the willow, the chirping of it's habbitants and the croaking of the variety of Porelli wild life; the combined sound was a wonderful orchestra of life and peace.

With a gust of wind, Gav cast his mind back to the day when he sat under this very tree with Morgan and Catherine; a very queer day it was, he's never understood why he sensed such a great deal of panic and fear from them, particularly Morgan and he could more or less taste the anxiety and worry which suffocated Catherine's thoughts. Gav smiled to himself thinking of her and the impact that having a child has had on her, and on him. Ariel, the last line of Seteda. He was the only one who knew, he's been meaning to let Catherine know, when she returned he would tell her everything, absolutely everything. He frowned.

"She's gone swanning off to Coruscant again," he thought to himself, "She can never keep her feet on the ground!"

He chuckled; one time he was very much like that, but now at the ripe old age of twenty-four he has settled down somewhat. He's beginning to act more like a damn Jedi. He smiled, then yawning he became weary of the time. He drank the last drop of red wine from the cup which had been to his side and leaning back, he closed his eyes and began drifting into a sleep.

<HR>

<FONT COLOR="#ADD8E6 " SIZE="1">
The sweet, fruited taste of wine still flustered about in his mouth, it's aromatic scent seeping into his naval cavity allowing him to relish the full bodied richness of the exotic drink. The clinking of the glass on the table seemed distant, slowly his hand left the glass and without thought moved across towards Catherine's. A smile crept across his face, as his hand, no longer quivering with doubt or fear, rested on the smooth, soft skin that was of such a deliciously creamy texture, Gav's senses longed to experience it once again. Like a drug, he was only now realising how much he had been deprived of her and now he had found her, he had truely found himself. Never before, had he experienced an emotional state such as this that all sense of reason and logic were lost in a dwindling cascade of reality.

His fingers softly carressed hers as they slowly wrapped about her petite hand rested on the table. Gently his fingers slipped under the hand and into the warm palm which, as it was facing down, began to be lifted by his own grip in one gentle motion. Simultaneously, he arose from his seat, he almost felt as though he was lifted by the air, floating, as he carefully moved about the table only to meet Catherine, who had now stood out of her chair. Without gesturing or thought, her second, free hand was now embraced in his, however now his grip on her hands was becoming stronger.

He was beginning to fear she would pull away and he would lose the woman he loved, at her touch his own blood seemed to leave his body and enter hers because at that moment, he became one with Catherine and was once again completed. Electricity surged through his body, racing at an increasingly alarming rate like his pulse and his breathing became less controlled and he took gulps of air in heavy, randomn intakes.


"Catherine," he choked, becoming lost in the deep, hypnotic pools that made her dark, exotic eyes.

"Catherine, I..." he tried again. This was impossible, there was no air at all.


"...I..."


It was too late, there were no words. Gav had moved closer, releasing her left hand as he did and bringing to rest on Catherine's smoothly defined neck, his head tilted to the left slightly hesitant and unsure. However he didn't notice Catherine's reaction but allowed his hand to softly slide up her neck in a loving caress until his fingers got lost in an undulating maze of elegant, black hair which ran between the fingers as he moved nearer....
</FONT><FONT COLOR="FFB6C1" SIZE="1">

....when suddenly he opened his eyes to find himself staring into the face of a woman whose eyes contained a gleam of mischief and a hint of malice and she smiled. Her grin was harsh and cruel, Gav stepped back. Her face was riddled with a perverse joyous look and she let out a long, shrill laugh until she finally spoke.

"There is your precious </FONT><FONT COLOR="#DC143C " SIZE="1">blood line!"

She pointed to a thin strand of what looked like spilled wine on the floor and Gav's eyes followed it to the rear of the Strike's cargo hold, where it had grown into a long path of thick, viscous red and crimson. The trail led to the slumped bodies of Catherine and little Ariel and what flesh that remained on their horrendously mutilated bodies was stained red with blood, their blood. Their eyes wide open and staring directly at him, then from the pit of their stomachs came the most gut-wrenching, terrifying screams as they for an instant were awakened from death.</FONT>

<HR>

Jerking forward in terror Gav found himself bathed in the warm, brilliant radiance of a fine Corellian morning sun. The air was fresh and clean, a nearby stream could be heard trickling down the hillside into the lake and the birds gliding over the lake chirped and sung merrily to welcome the spring. There was peace once again.

Quickly Gav got up off the green, dewy grass and made his way back towards the Order's headquarters when once there he would climb into a variation of the old model Infiltrators and promptly left for Coruscant.

[Warren Azalin]

"Attention Jedi: Leave immediately or be destroyed. We repeat: Leave immediately or be des......"

Warren had cut off the comm channel and was in no mood to listen to more of their Pirate Garbage.

"Bah, nothing ever good on."

Liam and Warren had been awaiting an attack for sometime now, but it seemed the Pirates where waiting for something, who knows maybe they where serious when they gave their order. Warren doubted it but wanted to make totally sure.

"Liam, open up a comm channel with the lead ship."

Liam went to work on the computers and came back only a moment later smiling.

"Done."

"Excellent."

With a few clicks Warren had opened up a real time comm feed to the Head Ship.

"Attention, this is Jedi Master Warren Azalin. We have come here because we have received a Distress Call from "The Lightning's Strike.". By New Rebuplic law pirates are to be captured at all costs, but we're willing to let you go if you leave now. so we give you the option now. Leave immediately or be destroyed."

Warren left the channel open for a response but nodded to Liam as he sent him a message.

"Ready the TurboLasers and Torpedoes. They have no intention of leaving, and we have no intention of being destroyed."

Liam ran off to get everything prepared, but still it seemed awkward. Warren had seemingly taken command of Liam's ship, but then again what else could Warren do? Liam knew where everything was. Warren didn't know what was going to come of today, but he was sure of one thing..

"This is going to be a very long day."

[Space Pirates]

Those damned Jedi always screw up something. Len came up to her with a worried look on his face. "Darling I don't think we want to anger the Jedi. They've stayed out of our way for the most part but if we fight them they can make our lives miserable."

Jeniver whirled angrily and her nails raked across his face leaving long red abrasions. "Do you KNOW how long I've waited for this? Jedi be damned!" Len looked at her shocked. She had never lashed out at him in this manner. Her quest for vengeance was snowballing and now she was putting their whole organization in jeopardy. He had always deferred to her judgment but this time he needed to step in.

"No! This is going far enough. If you want to take down Live Wire then fine, but you wont do it at our expense."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was openingly challenging her. Her first instinct was to have him removed and severely punished at a later time but one look around at the scared faces of her crew told her they agreed with him. Jenvier prided herself on being a successful leader and one who did right by her people.

This is what she was becoming and it just made her angrier with Live Wire. But there would be other fights and other days. She knew how to find LW. Before she could give any orders her navigation officer rechecked sensors.

"Jeniver I’m not reading any life signs on the Strike"

She ran over to the computer console. He was right they weren’t reading anything. The ship was completely dead. After all this time her mission was complete. It was an unreal feeling. The woman who had brutally murdered her husband had paid for her crime. Len’s face was pale. When the Jedi found out about this they wouldn’t be looked upon as a small time pirate operation anymore. They had just returned to the big leagues in a bad way.

Jeniver reopened the channel too the Jedi. “You win this round Jedi. But stay out of our way from now on. Next time you won’t be this lucky.” She closed the channel and went and sat back in her chair. “Get us out of here. Usual rendezvous coordinates. We got what we came for.”

The pirate ships jumped to hyperspace leaving the strike floating dead in space and the Jedi scratching their heads wondering why this confrontation was so easy.

[Gav Mortis]

It was difficult to explain; a sense of panic that would normally seem like paranoia except that dream seemed like something else, something more; like it was real. He shuddered at the thought of the dream. Gav didn't know what he would be expecting to find but he knew something was not as it should be. He feared for the safety of both Live Wire and Ariel.

Streams of white light shot past against a backdrop of jet black emptiness - Gav couldn't abide space travel - it was utterly dull. He still couldn't believe he was the one who conceived and began the Zeus Project for he had no love for ships or fleets or any other artificial nonsense anymore. They were convenient though.

To his left an orange light began to flash, there was distress signal - after checking it out he recognised the message as being from the Lightning's Strike - it's co-ordinates went onchanged eavch time the message recycled. It was stranded. Immediatly Gav altered his course to intercept Live Wire's ship, he would get there in ten, maybe fifteen minutes.

[Warren Azalin]

Warren and Liam had been standing by ready for a fight when the Comm Channel opened up again. This time with a response that was shocking more then anything else.

“You win this round Jedi. But stay out of our way from now on. Next time you won’t be this lucky.”

The Comm Channel later closed as both Jedi watched in confusion as all ships entered Hyperspace and left only the Strike behind.

"Well, that was easy."

Warren laughed to himself thinking that it had in fact been easy, but his laugh carried a bit of fear in it. Fear of knowing if they had faced resistance Liam's heap of Junk wouldn't have taken more then a few blasts and right now they would be one with the Force in the middle of Space.

"So, what now Warren?"

Liam's voice held a tone of fear, fear more of not knowing then anything else.

"Well, I guess we can check up on the Strike. I mean it was a distress call after all..."

Warren had to stop for a moment and think about all the possibilities. At the moment this seemed all too easy, from the Pirates giving up to a pair of Jedi picking up a Sith's distress call.

"..We can't be to sure though so be sure to bring your saber."

Warren had done as any other Jedi would and always carried his Saber on him, no matter what, and going onto a Sith's Ship was definitely one of the times he would need to bring a saber along.

"Ok Warren, we are docking with the Strike now, gimme another moment and I'll have us inside."

The Jedi nodded as Liam worked on the Controls and did indeed keep his word. Within moments Liam and Warren were both onboard the Strike, looking for anything that would give them a reason for the distress call...

"Warren I think we got something, come here."

Hearing Liam's voice Warren followed the voice and the Force to a room towards the back of the ship.

"What do you got Liam?"

"Well she's dead that's for sure, but it's not Live Wire, it's someone else."

Warren wondered who else would possible be on a Sith's ship besides the Sith herself.

"Space Pirate?"

"Nope, seems like the Space Pirates killed her, who ever she was."

"Let's keep looking then."

Both Jedi had searched the Ship from top to bottom till they both came upon the last room, sealed air tight from the outside.

"Be ready Liam, just in case."

The Jedi moved his hand to his Saber as he opened the door, not knowing what to expect..

"Oh.....No.....

Warren saw the same as Liam as they walked into the room. The lifeless body of Live Wire and what seemed to be someone else.

"Liam, are they Dead?"

Warren could not tell from here, at least not through the Force. Liam would be able to tell though since he was closer and could give better judgment.

"Well one of them is dead. Live Wire."

Warren felt a slight bit of guilt knowing they had not been in time to save her, even if she was a Sith. While Live Wire was dead though there was still someone else, a child.

"You know the Kid Liam?"

"Never seen her before, maybe she's Live Wire's daughter."

"Maybe, and if that's the case we should take her with us."

Warren knew the child could not stay alive up here and even if she did so he didn't have the heart to leave her behind. Warren was letting his emotions cloud his judgment, emotions of knowing both how the child felt and as to how someone would feel at losing a child. Warren had made the decision and they where going to take the child with them, after all where could she be safer then at The Greater Jedi Order.

"Ok Liam let's get the Child and go, there is nothing more we can do here."

Liam took the child in his arms and followed Warren as they made their way back to the ship. Knowing there was nothing more they could do Liam tucked the child away in one of the back rooms as Warren prepared to Jump into Hyperspace.

"So what are we going to do with the Child when we get to GJO Warren?"

"We let the Force guide us Liam, after all look at how far it's taken us now."

Warren faked a grin as if he knew what he was doing, but in reality he didn't know what was going to happen. Not even how they where going to explain to the Jedi where they found the child, but that would have to wait, for now they where just going to take it slow till they got back home. With that last thought Warren punched in the Coordinates and took the ship into Hyperspace, not knowing what would happen to the Strike dead in space.

[Gav Mortis]

Had they seen him? There were Jedi on that ship, he could feel them the moment he dropped out of hyperspace and no sooner had he begun his approach had they themselves jumped into hyperspace. On top of that, there were traces of energy that suggested a much larger ship had been here not long ago; Gav's eyes narrowed as he looked over the readings upon approaching The Lightning's Strike, it had been badly battered and was in a dire state.

There were no life signs! Immediatly, the shuttle came in to dock with Live Wire's ship, Gav ran inside not caring to stop to take any weapons. Quickly, he made his way throughout the vessel, coming across the corpse of Ariel's nanny, whereupon he suddenly burst into a frightningly fast run, he shot down a corridoor and entered the room in which he discovered Live Wire's lifeless body.

"No..."

He came alongside her still figure lying peacefully on the bed, he could sense no sign of life form her - his eyes were wide with terror - he placed his hand on her neck checking for a pulse; nothing. He rested his head on her chest listening for a heartbeat; nothing. He began to panic, then coming to his senses placed his open palms on her chest and closed his eyes.

"You're not getting off this easily!" He said as his perception shifted and all was bathed in the Force.

This was somethinig he'd never done before, but he had thought about it, the brain can be revived after up to ten, maybe fifteen minutes without oxygen. He believed Catherine would be in the phase of death in which a Force-user's essence leaves the realm of the physical in preparation to either become one with the Force or whatever occurs to a dark-sider when they die.

He reached out, touching her lifeless body with the Force, he focused on three major organs; the heart, the lung and the brain. Suddenly, as though of it's own accord her ribcage lifted, her chest expanding and air rushed inside the empty shell and left almost as soon as it entered. He tried again, this time whilst methodically applying pressure to her heart, causing it to pump steadily. Once he had established a steady rythmn and air was being circulated in the blood stream he knew he'd have to add a third task to the operation. Her brain needed electrical stimulation to become activate once again.

"This should work...it has to work!" He thought to himself.

He began to worry now, none of her involuntary muscles were taking over, her heart and lungs were completely reliant on Gav, he started to panic once again.

"Come on...come on!"

Wielding his emotions like one would a weapon, Gav took his fear for losing her and channelled it so that it became a mild anger, anger at himself for not reviving her, and anger at Catherine for not waking up.

"Wake up, damnit! You are not leaving me like this, I wont let you. Damn you, have you always been this selfish...?"

Losing control of himself his hands began to tremble as he thought of all the things he might never be able to tell her; her body jerked as he sent a jolt of electricity through her....nothing. He tried again...nothing. Will she ever be able to say "I forgive you?" and in return will he ever tell her that he forgives her...can he forgive her? With a Jedi!

"Damn you, you selfsish bitch! Wake up! You can't leave me like this!" He cried out with rage, sending another, stronger electric charge through her body, the bed sheets began to crackle. His eyes were water bloodshot.

"Don't give up! Please, don't give up yourself.... don't give up on our daughter....don't give up..." He tear rolled down hs cheek and fell onto her face silently, "....on me."

Nothing.

Falling silent, Gav's stained face leaned over her lifeless, creamy soft face and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. He took one last glance...

"No..." His thought's became audible as he screamed out furiously, "No!!!"

He kept on screaming with rage and grabbed her by either arm and suddenly in all his hell-bent rage, sparks of blue electricity lept from his body and there was the sound of surging energy as Catherine's corpse shuddered and jerked about silently on the bed. Suddenly the sheets caught fire and almost immediatly the bed went up in flames.

"NO!!!" He lifted her up by her arms, still shuddering with electricity he ran with her lifeless form hoisted in the air and slammed it against her room wall, the fire blazing in the background.

"WAKE....UP!!!"

[Live Wire]

Some people wonder what its like to have a near death experience. Or even to die completely and pass from the physical realm to what lies beyond. As a force user Live Wire didn’t fear death, it was an occupational hazard that she had learned to accept. That being said she didn’t welcome death either. Even if things weren’t perfect there was too much for her to live for.

The idea had been for her to go into a meditation trance, but as she had lain on the bed, Ariel in her arms, with the air slowly leaving the room she felt her body begin to shut down. There was no white light; there was no tunnel, just a blackness that settled over her and finally a quiet unconsciousness. Ariel lay peacefully sleeping in her arms, the child innocently oblivious to the danger she was in.

The last thing she remembered was pulling Ariel tightly too her and the next thing she knew her eyes flew open and she was gasping for air as her body took over its own natural functions. The room had been opened and re-pressurized and precious oxygen filled her lungs. Before she could fully grasp what was going on she felt herself being slammed up against the wall. When all of her senses came back she looked down into Gav’s angry eyes not fully understanding what she was seeing.

“Gav?” she coughed, smoke from the fire on the bed getting into her lungs. He gently put her down stunned. She had really come back. What he did had actually worked. The heat from the fire burning on the bed caught her attention and as quickly as she could she made her way over to a computer console and manually activated the Strike’s fire suppression system. Within seconds the fire was out and she ran to Gav embracing him.

She didn’t doubt that he had most likely saved her life. Her whole body felt sore and she had so many questions. How had he found her? There had been no time for her distress call to even reach TSO. Why did he have her up against the wall like that and why the hell was the bed on fire. But she pushed that aside and what mattered was that help had miraculously arrived.

He looked at her still bewildered. “I…I thought I lost you.”

“I think you did there for awhile.” She smiled kissing him. Never before had she been so happy to see him. Her heartbeat had slowed down and her body was returning to normal. Opening herself up to the force helped restore some sense of vitality quicker then if she hadn’t been a force user. Though she had a feeling she’d be sore for a while.

As she broke the embrace she looked over to the charred remains of the bed. That mess was going to take awhile to clean up. She didn’t even want to think about what kind of condition her precious ship was in at the moment. The techs at TSO were going to be busy with this one for a while. She frowned, “Where’s Ariel?”

She turned back to Gav and a feeling of panic started to spread through her as he looked back at her silently. “Gav…” she said slowly. “Where’s our daughter?” She had assumed he had put her someplace safe once he found them both.

Gav shook his head as a horrible feeling started to grow in the pit of his stomach. “She wasn’t in here when I came on board.”

“What do you mean she wasn’t here?” Fear paralyzed her and her legs gave out underneath her. Gav rushed to her side holding her tightly. “She was in my arms when I blacked out. She was right her.”

Catherine was practically hysterical as he helped her to her feet. “She was right here now where the hell is she!!!”

[Gav Mortis]

Never had Gav ever been so relieved. To hear her cough out his name like that, gave him, for the first a sign that he was doing something right. It was something completely alien to him, until now; he had saved someone from death, a Force greater than the Light Side or Dark Side, stronger than the Force itself, had allowed him to save her life. "I saved her life..." The moment was unexpected and strangely euphoric, he'd taken life before but it was insignificant compared to the power to grant life. He understood this now. In his moment of disbelief, his once angry, glaring face had wilted and he stared at Catherine like he had experienced some life-changing revelation. She said it again, "Gav?"

He shook his head, coming back to his senses he put her down gently, and averted his eyes with embarressment, he'd been so aggressive with her and so angry. He's very rarely angry anymore, there's little to be angry about, which made using the Dark Side much more difficult to say the least. After the fire had been put out, they embraced and despite all the feelings of jealousy and suspision, he held her tightly, not wanting to let go, there were such times when he had little control over his own actions, something elses guided him, like a puppet, and he was only too willing to oblige.

In a moment, all of this was lost as a new terror grew in his heart. Of course. Ariel had been with Catherine, he had seen it in his sleep at Lake Porelli, why hadn't he realised when he first entered the ship? Before he started to panic, frustrated at himself, he ran over the events in his head. Holding Catherine up, she had suffered enough today and had been through an overwhelming ordeal and now this. She was pale with fright and looked like she was about to collapse.

"The ship was damaged, there were traces of another ships engines, not that of the Jedi ship....the Jedi ship!" He thought outloud running anything he could off the top of his head until it hit him, the Jedi have taken Ariel.

"Did you have to fight with the Jedi; is that why you blacked out?" He asked her hurriedly.

Her eyes widened with suprise and confusion, he could feel it all too strongly and knew what had happened even before she repeated, "Jedi?"

With that he scooped her up, she was tired and unsteady, and they needed to follow that ship and fast. The location of the Jedi homeworld wasn't very well known, Gav had a vague idea and that was the direction the ship had headed in, now they need to copy the hyperspace route.

"I'm taking you to the old infiltrator I took from the Order, in that we will go to the nearest spaceport, accquire a shuttle and head off to the Jedi homeworld, they have Ariel. The Jedi have taken her!"

He didn't want to make her panic anymore, but at least they knew where she was and suffice to say the Jedi wouldn't harm her, but it is likely they wont hand over a child to the Dark Side, besides, she needed to know the truth. They would get their daughter back.

[Live Wire]

Catherine barely had any time to try and take in all the information that was being thrown at her. Things were happening so fast and in her current state she couldn’t keep up. If he hadn’t been there supporting her she would have crumpled to the floor. Her legs felt like rubber and her head was starting to swim. Her daughter was gone and she had no idea what could have happened to her. It didn’t make sense because Jeniver would not have come back on board the ship and taken Ariel. Her best revenge would have been for both of them to die floating in space.

Nothing was making sense when Gav asked if she had been in a fight with Jedi. She didn’t get a chance to explain that it was pirates that had attacked her and not Jedi. There would be time later to tell him the entire account of what had happened. She didn’t understand why he seemed to know what was going on but apparently he knew something that she didn’t. Suddenly he had swept her off the floor and was carrying her and running as fast as he could toward the docking port.

Gav was trying to stay calm for her benefit but she could sense the worry and fear in his heart. It was the type of fear that only a parent could understand. Holding on to him tightly she listened as he spoke telling her where he was taking her and why.

“The Jedi have taken her.” Those words went through her like the steel blade of a knife. She tried to realize that at least that meant that Ariel was safe. The Jedi had no doubt taken her out of some misguided sense of duty. Now they just had to get her back. There were very few times in her life that Catherine just felt like crying but this was one of them.

Was this her punishment for the bad choices she’d made? Was the universe yet again laughing at her for trying to put her life in order? One thing was sure, she was angry. She was angry at herself for endangering her daughter. Very few people outside of TSO even knew of Ariel’s existence. She had kept it that way on purpose knowing that there were people out there who would hurt her child to get to her.

Once inside the infiltrator Gav set her carefully down in the copilot’s chair. Silently she watched him operate the ships controls. There was really nothing she could say and there was nothing that he could say that would alleviate that empty feeling in her heart. As the ship pulled away from the Strike a tear fell down her cheek.

“I’m so sorry.” As he turned to look at her she felt a pang of guilt. Ariel was his daughter too and she hadn’t been treating him that way. She hadn’t trusted him enough to leave Ariel with him. Instead she had arrogantly assumed that their daughter would be safer with her off on Coruscant then at home with her father. She felt like she had betrayed the person that meant the most to her and the pain of that shame stung more then the stab of any light saber. It was too hard for her to even look Gav in the eye. If he only knew everything what would he say? Would he be able to forgive her when right now she couldn’t forgive herself?

“It’s not your fault.” Gav took her hand in his and tried to console her but nothing could take the away the guilt. She was responsible for this situation and although she knew he wouldn’t blame her, or at least he wouldn’t let on if he did, Catherine couldn’t help put the responsibility for everything squarely on her own shoulders.

They were silent again as Gav sent off a message to TSO informing them of where to come and pick up the Strike and letting them know they wouldn’t be back on Corellia for a few days. He didn’t give particulars but the others would worry about them if they didn’t let them know not to expect them back. It would just be the two of them going to retrieve Ariel. Catherine had always missed the days when the two of them got to work together but this isn’t the type of mission she had in mind.

Once the ship was in hyperspace he spoke again. “We’re going to get her back Catherine. If we have to kill every Jedi in sight I promise you we’ll get her back.”

Nodding she tried to smile. Her eyes looked at him blankly every bit of pain she was feeling written plainly on her face. Thinking about what he had just said she realized what going to the Jedi home world meant. The guilt returned. This was going to be hell, she just knew it.

[Gav Mortis]

They were to follow the Jedi ship for as long as possible until they knew exactly where it was heading, it wasn't difficult to trace the hyperspace signature that it left behind as it was fairly recent. On top of that, the Jedi have no need for misdirection by performing two hyperspace jumps as they believe no-one saw them. If what Gav had heard was correct, the Jedi were located somewhere around Arcan, and on one of the moons, it was commonly known that a New Republic trading base had not long ago been established. He had a feeling he would find the Jedi there and it certainly looked that way judging by the direction of the vessel they were following.

"I was wondering," He began in a casual tone, trying to distract Catherine from her worry, "Do you know where the Jedi homeworld is? I've a general idea and this route seems to be taking us there but is there any way you could clear up my doubt?"

Her suffering screamed out, through the Force it was deafening but she wasn't trying to hide it, instead, he sensed from her, that she was hiding something else. His eyes narrowed with curiosity, he wasn't looking her way at the time, glancing at read-outs from the Nav-computer. At first he had his doubts but then it was a little more obvious, she was trying to hide her "Guilt?" He thought to himself. Now that he had discovered what it was that she was trying to hide, it became painfully clear that it wasn't so much the guilt of losing Ariel, for which Gav did not blame her, but something much more potent and intense, he could feel it eating her up inside.

He squirmed in his seat a little, feeling very uneasy. She was hiding something from him, and he had a sense of foreboding. What was to come?

[Live Wire]

Catherine was slumped in her chair her eyes cast downwards. Her mind just kept repeating over and over "This is not happening". But this nightmare was very real and she made no attempts to hide her emotions from Gav. Part of her genuinely wanted to clear the air between them and start over. She took slow deep breaths carefully bringing herself under control. It wasn't until she heard Gav's question that she looked up.

"I was wondering, do you know where the Jedi home world is? I've a general idea and this route seems to be taking us there but is there any way you could clear up my doubt?"

She looked up sharply her eyes wide and her heart pounding. Why would he ask her something like that? What did he know? He was looking at her curiously and she realized that he had asked out of innocent curiosity and to make conversation in the already awkward situation. Forcing herself to calm down she looked at him. It was too much and she felt the tears well up behind her eyes. She knew the guilt was all over her face but she was too far gone to hide it.

Her hand unconsciously strayed to her neck where her fingers ran along a thin chain that held two small rings hidden safely under her shirt. She could feel the cold metal of the necklace against her skin. It was making her feel as if she had a noose around her neck that was slowly and steadily being drawn tighter and tighter. Part of her wanted to confess everything and let the chips fall where they may but she just wasn’t ready to do that. She had let chance after chance slip away and now she simply lacked the courage. Besides it was the past. That’s what she was telling herself anyway but the chain around her neck said differently.

The thought of even setting foot back on the Jedi planet made her stomach turn. There was just too much emotional baggage to go along with it and the way her luck was going she’d see the one person she wasn’t ready to confront. If it came down to being honest with Gav about her past actions she didn’t feel she could count on his reaction being rational. Maybe she was worrying over nothing but she feared that the situation might be too tempting.

If Ariel hadn’t been involved she probably would have shaken her head and denied knowing anything about the location of the Jedi. But she had been there, she knew where they were and had sworn never to use that information against them. But this was her daughter, this was different. Besides Gav would find them with or without her help and the faster they got there the faster they could retrieve their daughter and go home.

Barely able to speak she choked out the words. “They’re on Arcan IV.” Gav looked at her surprised as if he hadn’t really expected her to know. No doubt he would wonder why she’d never given up this information in the past. Biting her bottom lip she brushed some annoying strands of hair out of her face and cast her gaze back towards the blinking lights on the console. She couldn’t look at him any longer and the look in his eyes told her he suspected more then he had previously let on.

[Gav Mortis]

Things were getting worse, her thoughts were erratic and emotions conflicted and sore; he felt saturate by this overwhelming sensation of anxiety and guilt, it literally made him feel dizzy and ill. The colour left his cheeks and it was then he realised it wasn't just Catherine's anxiety that had infected him, but he was worried too, scared even at what she was hiding from him.

"Stop it!" He thought, mentally scolding himself, "Suspicion is very dangerous and now is not the time..."

He turned away from her, pretending he was looking at the readings from the sensors and performing some basic operations, he felt frightfully uncomfortable. But his curiosity was getting the better of him, he had to know.

"...but what is she holding back? And how is she so sure of Arcan IV?" His mind raced, thoughts plagued and tormented him. He closed his eyes, trying to relax but Catherine's feelings were to much to ignore or shut out.

"Oh..." He said finally, "Been there before?"

[Live Wire]

Catherine’s own emotions were torture enough for her but Gav’s anxiety added to it was too much. She leaned forward holding her head in her hands. This had to stop. This torment had to stop if they were going to succeed in getting their daughter back. She took a few deep breaths and tried to regain some measure of control over her wildly beating heart. Sitting back up she looked over at Gav who was trying to busy himself with the ships controls. While the tone of his voice was that of innocent chit chat she knew better. She was dangling bits and pieces of information in front of him and he was dying to have the rest of it.

He finally spoke again. ”Been there before?”

After a moment Catherine was resolved to speak the truth. He deserved that from her and she owed him at least that much. “Actually,” she spoke slowly forcing herself to get out the words. “I have.” The words were out there and there was no going back now.

[Gav Mortis]

He closed his eyes, unbeknownst to her, trying to shut out what he was thinking, inside he was being ripped to pieces, slowly. His paranoia and suspiscion had been eating away at him for months now, and now it was all coming to a horrible climax. Or was it that his worries were all ill-founded and her reasons for visiting the Jedi homeworld completely innocent? His teeth were clamped tight, inside he felt cold and nervous. Under the humming of the ship's engines he took deep breathes, calming down as much as he could.

"Really?" He asked almost convincingly, but his voice broke a little, "What-" He hesitated, "Why were you at Arcan IV?"

He had tried to turn around to look at her, but the expression on her face was making him feel like all that he had feared was true. Why had he shut it out this long?

[Live Wire]

His words stung. She could tell what he really wanted to ask was “What the HELL were you doing at Arcan IV?!” To his credit he kept his expression calm. He turned to look at her and the guilt was all over her face, she was biting her bottom lip. How did she even begin to tell him what she had to? Her whole body felt hot and all of a sudden the infiltrator seemed much smaller then it really was.

“I was there…” She stopped unable to continue. She started to feel angry with herself. Had she really done anything wrong? One look at Gav and she knew she had. She had purposely concealed the truth from him many times. “I was there to see Morgan.” She drew her knees up to her chest hugging them tightly waiting for his reaction.

[Gav Mortis]

It was getting worse and he'd hoped never to hear her mention his name again, after seeing them that day by the lake, he had no idea and over time his suspiscions had grown. His teeth grinded in anger at the sound of that name, to Gav he was a blood-sucking leech, slipping from light to dark and back again. So why had Catherine gone all the way to Arcan IV to see a Jedi?

Closing his eyes tight, his angry words spoken through closed teeth, not wanting to turn to face her, she was knocking him further down each time she spoke. He'd never known real torture until now.

"Tell me honestly, Catherine, why did you go all the way to Arcan IV to see...him?" He spat out the last part not daring to say that name.

[Live Wire]

Catherine knew that the fact that when Morgan had returned to the Jedi the affair continued would make it all that more detestable to Gav. He wouldn’t understand why she had let it continue. How could he when she herself didn’t quite understand it? She pulled her knees up tighter against her chest.

“I….” The words just didn’t seem right. How do you go about telling someone something like this? “Well, I….” She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t bring herself to say those words.

Gav hands were in fists and she could feel him getting impatient with her. Catherine was practically in tears when he repeated himself, his words were angrier this time. “Why did you go all the way to Arcan IV to see HIM?"

The words were barely out of his mouth when she blurted out. “Because I was having an affair with him that’s why! Are you happy now?” She gasped even as she said it. That hadn’t come out the way she had intended it too.

[Gav Mortis]

And that was it. For the second time in his life, Gav's entire world came crashing down around him and he beneath it all. The first time he was betrayed by his own family as a child; they watched him, held firm against that cold, hard wooden post, hidden in the crowd whilst a filthy Gamorean slashed open his neck. He looked down at the floor of the ship, all else was drowned out and he forgot for a moment, why he felt like this. His hand came up to his throat, holding his neck and he choked, finding it almost impossible to breath; he could see the pool of blood on the floor before him as it oozed from his throat. With a gasp he snapped back to reality.

Now it wasn't his family who had betrayed him this time, ever since that fateful day he had vowed to himself never to let anyone close and he had done so successfully until the day fate brought him to Catherine. It had taken a long time for his barriers to be broken down but at last she had worked her way inside, gnawing at his very flesh, wrigling, squirming to get under the surface like some sort of malicious paracite. She had done it, having planned it from the very start; had she really planned this? Was this the moment when her ploy to ruin Gav Mortis came to a spearhead?

Then suddenly his face writhed in agony almost, not of physical pain but inside, his heart was suffering and the fires of hell itself were scorching, it hurt so badly he choked to hold back the tears. It was almost like a fit of insanity, he was genuinly terrified and she had done this to him, all this time with him, the Jedi. They did it together.

He shivered a little, his face fell into his hands. For a moment he was silent, then there was a sudden retrieval of air and in one motion he came to hsi feet, turned and without thought or hesitation, lunged at Catherine. Before she could react he had snatched her up in his hands, squeezing her wrists so tight that the blood couldn't get to her hands yet what blood she did have, appeared on the surface where his nails dug into her skin. With one swift movement of strength fueled by a mad raged, he hoisted her from the floor, turned her body slamming it against the wall ferociously, her feet suspended a foot from the floor.

"WHY!?!?" He screamed, his voice bellowed and seemed to engulf all of space outside the ship, it seemed to echo in the vast reaches of nothingness.

It was the only word he managed to say, his maniacal, angry eyes, tainted a bloodshot red, glittering as he strained against the tears.

[Live Wire]

She had regretted her words as soon as they were out of her mouth. She could have, she should have worded that a whole lot better. The pain and agony he was in radiated from him and she winced as if struck by a physical blow. Words could not describe the amount of guilt she felt. She was the source of his pain. Here was the one she had loved for as long as she could remember and she was the reason he was in pain. She was about to apologize when he lunged at her like a mad man.

Catherine screamed as Gav grabbed her wrists and pulled her out of the chair. As his nails dug into her flesh it was the first time in her life she had ever genuinely feared him. Her scream was cut short as he lifted her off the ground and slammed her into the wall. Tears fell from her eyes as her already battered and bruised body was subjected to even more abuse. “Please,” she gasped as the wind was knocked out of her. “You’re hurting me.”

The pain was so bad she thought she was going to pass out as Gav slammed her against the wall again. He screamed at her “WHY?!?!” and Catherine broke down in tears.

“Please stop! I’m so sorry” Tears were streaming down her cheeks and for a brief moment she thought he was actually going to do her serious harm. His eyes were wild and angry and Catherine never having seen him like this wasn’t sure what he was capable of.

“I thought you were dead…and then you came back but I was already seeing him…I just didn’t know what to do. I was confused and alone…I’m sorry.” She bowed her head coughing back tears and the necklace that was hidden underneath her shirt fell out having come lose and dropped to the floor.

[Gav Mortis]

It was the most painful experience he had ever had in his life and would sooner have been consumed by roaring fire for all eternity in an effort to undo this moment; but it was too late, too late for him, for her and the tiny measure of happiness that was left in his life. Finally, the man had plunged into total darkness, he felt betrayed, weak, unwanted and his body termbled with conflicted feelings of an unutterable sorrow and a tempestuous anger raging all inside.

His anger soared then plummeted in conflicting emotions, when she began to cry he just wanted to drop to his knees and tear out his eyes so that he wouldn't have to see her sadness. Yet he quickly would remember why she was crying and his anger would grow again. He couldn't bare it, he didn't know what to do or what to say. But he felt both guilty and victimised.

For a moment he held her hard against the inside of the ship whilst she tried to explain against her choking tears. His eyes were almost crimson with both fury and from restraining his tears. During a climax in his wild anger, words finally came to him and he spoke before the sorrow returned.

"You-" He began, his voice trembled and he choked on his words as he tried to spit them out through his venemous ire, "You, have taken away...the one, remaining shred...of hapiness in my life. You-"He paused again, his unforgiving glare burning the back of her eyes whilst he summoned his words from the pit of his stomach, "You have destroyed something that no Jedi ever could. The last piece of humanity in me is gone...my very soul is dead...because of you!" He suddenly screamed, slamming her against the wall again.

"You...manipulative, evil little whore!" He spat out his words with such venom that he had not even done to a Jedi and with that, still clasping her by the wrists turned and threw her to the ground. Before she should move, he was down by her side and grabbed her firm by the throat, his fingers clamped unmercifully at her neck making it difficult to breath as he held her against the icy floor.

"How could you do this to me!" He cried out, no longer able to hold back his tears. "Why did you do this to me? You..." He gasped a little then said, in a much quieter voice, "You've destroyed me, Catherine. You and that- that Jedi! I'm glad I was able to topple your precious palace that day on Corellia, it has served it's prupose; it's a shame you weren't buried under it"

With that he took his hand away, turned to stand and picked up a small chain with two matching gold rings. He stared at it for a moment, holding it in his hand, silently thinking.

[Live Wire]

Terror was the only thing in Catherine’s eyes as Gav continued to slam her against the wall. As afraid as she was of him part of her felt like she deserved whatever he had to say. She screamed as he threw her to the ground but it was cut short as his hands clamped around her neck. Right then she had no doubt that he was going to kill her. His hands were slowly steadily and coldly squeezing the life out of her.

With every accusatory word his grip grew tighter and tighter. Finally he let go. Catherine lay gasping on the floor rubbing her neck and look at him in shock. What had he just said? Gav was standing across from her holding her necklace but it didn’t really register as her brain tried to wrap itself around his last words.

The palace, the mysterious Jed, Gav showing up just in time to save her and Ariel, it all was starting to fall into place. Using the chair as support she got to her feet. Finally she had the last bit of information to resolve all her questions about those few days. The voice calling her name, the bitter hatred directed toward her, it all clicked. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. This was not the same man she fell in love with. It was like looking at a stranger. Or maybe this was who he really was and she was just now seeing it.

“That was you!” She swallowed back the rest of her tears. Her fear was slowly being replaced by anger. “You’re the one who destroyed the palace? You kidnapped Ariel?” Before Gav could respond she assaulted his body with a barrage of lightning. “You selfish, lying, hateful, son of a bitch! TSO and Ariel were the only two things I had left after you ‘died’! The only two things I had to cling to! The only things that were keeping me alive and you tried to take both of them from me! Do you know how much I suffered? Do you have any F*ing clue?”

She walked over to him and backhanded him across the face as hard as she could. “You despicable bastard! You think I was out to hurt you with Morgan?” She laughed in his face. “Now I only wish I had accepted his offer. But instead like a fool I chose to be with you damn it! And here the entire time you were out to not only destroy me, but what we built together!”

Tearing the necklace from his hands she threw him across the cockpit and sent another wave of force lightning at him. “You miserable bastard! After everything you had already put me through you had to go and rub salt in the wound. Who was really out to destroy whom? I’m just sorry I didn’t see it before cause if I had known I would have married Morgan and left. I can’t believe I waited for you.”

Part of her wanted to take her blaster and just blow his head off but the other part of her was reminding her that this was Ariel’s father. She turned away from him for a split second before throwing him out of the cockpit door and locking it shut. She collapsed down in her chair and tears streamed back down her face. Her whole body felt numb as she realized the implication of it all.

[Gav Mortis]

Women! They have a remarkable way of turning things around to make them seem like the victims. Gav still hurt, this time it wasn't so much due to the truth about Catherine and Morgan but it was his first taste of a Dark-Sider's lightning. His body stung, his clothes smoked and his muscles ached all over. He was at a loss for words and would have to take some time to gather his thoughts in order to provide a counter-arguement to what she had just said to him.

Deep down he knew why he did what he did: he faked his own death in order to escape. He had to escape the merciless grasp of the Dark Side, he, like so many was a helpless victim to it's power, a mindless slave to it's beck and call. Gav wanted to escape his former life and as much as he had tried, the only possible conclusion was to end it. Not literally of course but if everyone else thought he was dead, he would have no need to think about them again either. At least that's what he thought, but something kept calling him back, something that appealled to his last shred of goodness.

He couldn't resist her, day after day, she would torment him to the point of madness whilst he was away and Gav never did deny that there was a time when he became so blinded by the Dark Side that he too slipped into madness. His detatchment from the Sith Order allowed him to pull himself free and for that he is thankful. But the truth is, Gav never wanted to be some evil Sith Lord. So what went wrong? Gav was seduced by two things, the call of the Dark Side and his unconcious desire to be loved. He found a temporary happiness then, he had the love of Catherine and the Sith Order as a home.

Something inside finally told him, "This is not the way! You are still blinded by your selfishness; you are still a slave to your own desires!" So Gav pulled himself away from the life he lived and the woman he loved in a vain attempt to find peace at last, when all that could be found was torment. Now the path has once again taken him back to his suffering and pain. But now it is all caused by her. No longer does he hunger for death and destruction; now all that Gav wants is a conlcusion, an end to the conflict. Catherine was the one who was stopping this, everything was running smoothly until she came into his life.

"She is the embodiment of all that is evil. She is my life and death. She is the air that I breath and the flesh on my bones. Catherine is me and I hate her; therefore I hate myself."

He said this to himself, gathering his strength, sitting in the back of the ship, it wouldn't take him too long to recover. When he returned to the cockpit, he didn't want to argue, he didn't want to speak. He wanted his daughter back and with or without Catherine, he will have her back.

There was a bleeping sound from inside the cockpit. They were in range of a small space station, it was in orbit of a moon a day's journey away from Arcan IV. The door unlocked itself and Gav stepped through, he wouldn't give her the pleasure of meeting his eyes. He sat down and dropped the ship out of hyperspace.

"There," He said, he cared not to fire his voice with hatred or any other emotion, "We will dock here, have your ship sent for and repaired, then take a shuttle to Arcan IV."

With that, he began the landing cycle.

[Live Wire]

Catherine picked up a data pad and threw it angrily across the cockpit where it shattered and fell to the floor. She had all this anger inside her and no outlet for it. Frustration didn’t begin to describe what she was feeling. Here she had answers after all this time but she didn’t like them.

It was unbelievable, the person she had come to trust the most had been stabbing her in the back this entire time. For the millionth time she felt like the universe was laughing at her. Looking down at the rings she held in her hand just made her angrier. That was the life she gave up, and for what? This? Sitting in an infiltrator with a man she could no longer trust looking for the Jedi who had taken her daughter. Maybe Morgan was right, this road was leading her no where and could only destroy her and the ones she loved.

Carefully she got up and unlocked the door. She was stuck on the ship with him. Locking herself in would do her no good. The pain had already invaded her soul and being in the same room with him wasn’t going to make it better or worse.

When Gav returned to the cockpit Catherine was staring out at the stars blankly. She felt empty and broken. All her energy was sapped and her whole body was numb. She didn’t even look up when he sat down next to her and took the ship out of hyperspace. Gav’s presence weighed on her mind but his emotions were closed off to her. She chided herself for getting so emotional. They had a job to do, they still had to get Ariel back and needless emotional baggage would only get in the way of that.

Gav started the landing cycle and Catherine sent off a message to TSO. Carefully she fixed the delicate chain on her necklace and refastened it around her neck. Part of her did it just to spite Gav but part of her honestly wasn’t ready to give it up, especially after this. The silence was beginning to grate on her nerves. Abruptly she stood up and walked to the back of the infiltrator where Gav had tossed her lightsaber and blaster when he brought her on board. Sighing she attached them both to her belt and tied her cloak around her shoulders. Her face was tear stained and her entire body felt like she had just been in a fight with a couple of rancors. Fortunately the hood of the cloak hid her face so anyone looking on wouldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

Checking a few of the boxes in the back she found some field rations and realized that she was indeed hungry. The punishment her body had taken had drained her energy. Taking a handful she headed back to the cockpit. As she sat Catherine glanced over at Gav as he was locking down the ships controls. His face was expressionless and she sat there studying him. She really was seeing him for the first time. The trust between them had been shattered and she didn’t know if she could ever feel the same way about him as she had only a few hours before.

Breaking into one of the ration packages she chewed hungrily. She had to be starving because never before had she been glad to eat one of these things. They may have been nutritious but flavorful they definitely were not. Gav was still giving her the silent treatment and while she wasn’t in the mood to discuss what had just transpired either she felt that the silence had to be broken somehow.

“You should probably eat something.” Gav just continued what he was doing not even acknowledging what she had said. Instead of angering her it just made her sad. In the blink of an eye something very important to her had been shattered and she felt very doubtful that it could be repaired.

She took a ration pack and put it on the control panel in front of him. “If you don’t want to acknowledge me fine but you need to eat.” Sighing she got up to leave.

[Gav Mortis]

"Acknowledge you?" He repeated, then added with venom, "I wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire."

With that he stood up, leaving the ration behind and swiftly picking up his things made his way for the exit now that they had docked. On his way out he flicked a small switch and there was a quiet beep and an orange light came on. Once both were outside, with the hatch shut and everything sealed off they made their way to the nearest accessable docking bay.

He made no effort to get side-tracked, they would get a ship and go to Arcan IV, then they would get Ariel back and she would no doubt keep her out of his hands as she always has done and then he never has to associate himself with her anymore. He wanted her out of his life forever.

Oh how he wanted to just turn around and give her a taste of her own medicine, but electrocuting her was too simple; his blood boiled and raged. He was furious and what he had already set in motion on that ship will be nothing more than a vain attempt to quench his lust for blood.

Docking Bay 12, there were three security gaurds on watch which were quickly reduced to six halves of security gaurds; it was so simple for him to take life, at the age of twenty-four, almost twenty-five he was numbed to death, dehumanised. It was a small port and naturally the shuttle only just managed to fit in the docking bay. No-one had been alerted to their presence and no-one will.

He had actually paid attention to where Catherine was and he didn't care, he was going after his daughter and he would not have Catherine associated with him in anyway, even if she is the mother of the child. She was onboard, she too was eager to be hot on the trail of those Jedi.

"This has to be done quickly, you must co-pilot."

They started up the engines and internal computers, activated all systems and at that an alarm sounded indicating a ship was trying to leave unauthorised. Now ascending rather hurriedly, the shuttles rather poor shields were activated as soon as the whirring sound of turrets rotating in their direction was heard.

Inside the cockpit, Gav took out a small cylindrical device, gripped it in his left hand and with his thumb, flicked the top open revealing a red button and pressed it twice. Suddenly the infiltrator exploded ferociously along with any evidence that they had ever visited the spaceport. The blast illuminated the sky for a moment, taking out three other neighbouring docking bays.

"We have to make the jump into hyperspace very quickly, enter some random, but safe co-ordinates into the computer, a distance that will only take a minute to get to though hyperspace then imput the correct co-ordinates for Arcan IV for a second jump. That will keep them off our trail!"

Gav then returned his attention to the controls, he rerouted all deflector shield energy to the rear and engaged emergency thrusters, expertly manouvering out of the moon's atmosphere.

[Live Wire]

Gav’s words enraged her but wisely she held her tongue. She had no idea what an all out fight between the two of them would be like and she wasn’t eager to find out either. Just the thought that they had to work together to get Ariel back left a bitter taste in her mouth and a sick feeling in her stomach.

The blast of the infiltrator blowing up made her jump. It seemed so unnecessary seeing as this was supposed to be a quick in and out operation and there were other ways of masking their trails but one look at Gav and she could see he was forcing himself to take out his anger at her in other ways. For that she was grateful. She was barely controlling her own emotions and any outburst on his part was likely to send her off the edge. All she wanted to do was to get Ariel back and get out of his presence.

Obeying his orders she inputted a decoy hyperspace jump into the computer. By that time they were safely out of the gravity well of the moon and the ship jumped into hyperspace. The coordinates for the second jump to Arcan IV were already calculated by the time they came out of hyperspace. She worked silently at the controls double checking the computers calculations. Once they began the second jump into hyperspace there was nothing for them to do but wait till they arrived.

Unfortunately the shuttle was much smaller then the infiltrator and there was really no place for her to go so she stayed put letting herself become hypnotized by the swirling lines of stars out of the cockpit windows. Her mind blanked out letting her escape however so briefly out of the painful reality. As she slowly refocused her thoughts she began to wonder how exactly they were going to pull this off. While the Jedi wouldn’t be expecting them they were not stupid. Two Sith could not just walk into the Jedi stronghold unnoticed and unchallenged and any use of the force would make them stick out all the more.

While she knew that the Jedi would not harm her daughter she wondered what they were doing to her. How would the Jedi deal with a young sith who was already exposed and bathed in the dark side of the force. Her thoughts began to wander into places she cringed to speculate upon. Turning her chair to face the wall she closed her eyes trying to block out her own thoughts.

She could feel Gav’s anger and hatred emanating from him like radiation from Tatooine’s twin suns. When she couldn’t take anymore she got up to go into the small back room of the shuttle craft. There wasn’t much room but it was for the moment preferable to being in the cockpit itself. Fortunately for her she had never really been claustrophobic. Sleep was out of the question, she was far too worked up for that so instead she tried to do something about her horrendous appearance.

Her hair was tangled, her face scratched and her left cheek swollen, she could already feel bruises forming on her thighs and her entire abdomen was sore where she had been slammed into the chair. She was grateful she didn’t have a mirror to see just how bad she really did look. With a little use of the force, however, she was able to suppress the physical pain; the emotional pain was a different story altogether.

After she had done what little she could about her appearance she returned to the cockpit and flopped back down in the copilot’s seat. Gav seemingly hadn’t moved since she had left and was still intent on the controls of the shuttle. To spare herself she had closed off her mind to everything around her and it was a small relief to be rid of Gav’s emotions albeit a temporary fix.

Her face was cold and betrayed none of the true emotion she was feeling inside. “Have you thought about how we’re actually going to get onto Arcan IV? It’s not like two sith can walk in unannounced.”

[Gav Mortis]

The absence of Catherine's presence was a brief relief for Gav and for a moment he allowed his exterior facade to break; his head fell into his hands, he leaned forward heavily upon his elbows and just let out a huge sigh. Silently, he cringed at the agony and torment deep inside, it was far worse than any physical pain and each time he supressed it, the suffering would surface worse than the last. His hands slid back through his hair, it was caught between his fingers and he in a moment of anger he gripped tightly and in some sort of mad, self-inflicted pain, pulled and ripped at his own hair, forcing his own head further down. The silence was eating him alive and he wanted to scream; scream so loud that he would spew his own insides all over this cockpit and end his misery.

"I hate..." This he thought, trying to amass his feelings logically, but the one feeling dominated all others, "I hate..." It was wretched - what did he hate? - did he even know? It was like some state of dementia, some madness driven by jealousy and self-loathing. "I hate..."

"I...hate..."

Suddenly, in his moment of stillness, he heard the door behind activated and sat upright and began attending to the controls as the door slid open with a subtle woosh. In she stepped, after making herself a little more presentable and looking a little colder and with a face of stone sat down and asked, "Have you thought about how we’re actually going to get onto Arcan IV?"

He was quiet for a moment, thinking back to why he had gone straight to that spaceport, he remembered and began explaining, trying to pursuade even himself that there is a method to his madness.

"That was a spacestation run by Lunar Lazes, a travel agency for inter-galactic holiday-makers, tourists and the like. Naturally this is a shuttle used for shipping small families to and from their holiday destinations and this particular shuttle was due for departure, thereofre it was safe to assume it would be tanked up on fuel and if we check those containers in the back, let's hope they contain suitable tourist clothes, preferably for humanoids--" He broke off as Live Wire disappeared into the back to have a look, then added, "Also yesterday, there was an incident involving a luxury cruise ship, carrying almost a thousand travellers, being attacked by pirates and there were few survivors - we being two of those few - how does that sound?"

For a moment, he had sounded sincere, then he silently scolded himself a quickly turned around before she emerged from the back of the ship. How they were going to pull this off convincingly was beyond him.

[Live Wire]

LW poked her head back into the cockpit briefly. “Yes that’s sounds like something that would be believable.” It was definitely a plausible idea and she didn’t have any better ideas. She went back to rummaging through the containers. Hopefully there was something suitable as they couldn’t go down to the planet looking like two Sith Masters.

Her words seemed confident but part of her felt like she didn’t fully trust Gav. When she went on a mission especially one as crucial as this she needed to trust her partner implicitly. In the past her and Gav had worked flawlessly together even to the point of thinking the same thoughts, they had always acted as one and it was the reason they were always successful. Very few people worked together as well as they had. Now that was all gone. And while she was sharing the small shuttle with him she felt very much alone.

Things were always in the last place you looked and true to that she hit the jackpot in the last container. It was full of your average street clothes and there were a couple of outfits that looked promising. She scooped up a few items and carried them back into the cockpit. Part of her felt resolved that she was going to do this and be as professional as possible and the other part was screaming at her wondering what made her think she could get through this. Being in his presence was like this white noise in the back of her mind. While she had closed off her mind to his thoughts the fact that he was there weighed upon her.

The fact that the ones we love are often the ones who hurt us the most was something she had always kept foremost in her mind. It had prevented her from being close to people for a long time until she had finally come to TSO. Being a part of this family had dulled her ability to distance herself. And then there was Gav…the one person who had gotten under her skin from day one. How he had done it remained a mystery to her. He was her drug making her who she was and yet destroying her at the same time.

She rummaged through the pile of clothing she had brought in picking out a few select pieces that seemed like they were suitable for the two of them. As she was doing that she was watching Gav operate the shuttle from underneath the hood of her cloak. She didn’t know if he had closed himself off to her as well or if he knew she was watching him. Either way it didn’t really matter to her. They were going to have to work together for the time being and that had to be dealt with. However as she watched him, the way his hands moved across the controls, she found herself becoming entranced. Shaking her head she chided herself, she couldn’t let him get to her, she couldn’t let her feelings for him cause her turmoil now. Now she had to be objective, her feelings for him and his actions had to be resolved later, it was not the time for that.

She held up some of her choices for him to see. “What do you think of these? They seem unassuming enough to go along with our cover story.”

[Gav Mortis]

Turning around, Gav quickly glanced over the clothing she had brought from the back and nodded a confirmation, as long as they would fit and were simple that would be satisfactory. He was never one to keep himself up-to-date with the latest in fashion, "She always has great taste in--" He suddenly scolded himself silently for letting his mind wander. "Focus, damn it!"

He was beginning to irritate himself, finding an equilibrium between controlling his anger and controlling any other feelings he had, occasionally slipping one way or the other. Finally punching the last button he was able to stand abruptly and storming past Catherine said wearily, "I'm going to get some sleep, we have twenty hours before we get to Arcan." He stepped through the door leading into the back of the ship when he suddenly turned and snatched the clothes he was to wear out of her hands then closed the door behind him.

Once inside he crashed onto a small, thin matress on the floor and there he would lay in the dark, claustraphobic escape until he could fall asleep which suffice to say, may be some time yet.

[Live Wire]

As Gav snatched the clothes from her hands she jumped back slightly. She was nervous around him, she no longer knew what to expect from him. As the door closed behind him she angrily threw the clothes she still held at the door. They landed in a crumpled heap that she spent the next few minutes just staring at as if it would suddenly reveal the answers she sought.

Twenty more hours of this sounded like sheer torture but there was no other option. She put her feet up on the other chair and tried to get into a comfortable position. Checking the computer, she made sure that the alarm would go off in time for them to wake up and come out of hyperspace. She let out a deep breath letting her whole body go limp and the tension drain from her muscles. In the cockpit there wasn’t much to look at except for the swirling miasma of hyperspace travel and as she watched she let herself become hypnotized by it. Eventually as the buzzing in the back of her mind started to fade she slowly let down her mental barriers. Gav was sleeping somewhat peacefully in the back room and she sensed that he too was starting to relax.

She knew she needed to sleep her body and mind were both exhausted but as she laid there, her eyes closed, she found herself being drawn to Gav’s essence. His presence was familiar and comforting and yet strange and disturbing all at the same time. The conflicting emotions ran through her causing her to tense up again. Finally she regained control of herself and put back up her mental barriers. The connection once again broken she turned and fell asleep.

[Gav Mortis]

Silently Gav did lay in what little room was available to him in the back of the shuttle; the heat was stifling, the air was stuffy and he couldn't see his hand in front of his face but regardless of all this he was quite happy to wait there until they arrived at Arcan IV rather than be near her, it was too difficult. "How the hell are we going to pull this one off?" He asked himself, thinking about their task up ahead. Neither could be comfortable around each other, that was glaringly obvious so when it came to hiding this from countless Jedi the chips weren't stacked in their favour.

He had been asleep for fourteen hours but had no idea apart from the fact that his energy had replenished. When he woke up he felt great but that was when it hit him, the memory of where he was and what had happened and since then he's persisted in tossing and turning in that small space until they arrive at their destination. Misery, misery, misery; he didn't have to come out here - innitially he'd been afraid for her life but now that the truth was all out now; well, the sad truth is if he'd have known earlier then he would've happily left her to die. Ariel on the other hand; his daughter, their daughter but most of the time it seemed like her daughter, he would've came for Ariel, left Catherine on the ship and told her that her mother died in a freak accident with space pirates.

Indeed he felt extremely bitter towards her now - just when you think you've got everything going perfectly someone comes along and throws a spanner in the works - he was quite content to blame her for it but it would be at the expense of Morgan's head that he will have his revenge. That was the real reason he wanted to go to Arcan IV; Ariel had become a second priority and in that tiny, awful cargo hold Gav would lie, contemplating his revenge and what he will do to the Jedi once he finds him.

Suddenly his thoughts were interruped by a buzzing sound coming from the cockpit, from the gap at the base of the sliding door he caught sight of a orange glow. That would be the signal that they would be dropping out of hyperspace in two minutes so quickly he fumbled about in the dark and began getting changed for what they had planned.

[Live Wire]

Catherine slept soundly and deeply as the ship sped along through hyperspace. The quiet hum of the hyperdrive engines became a comforting lullaby as she rested. As she slept her body got the needed rest and slowly revitlized itself. When she woke she found that while she was stiff from being in the same position for hours she also felt immensely better both mentally and physically.

They still had an hour before they were scheduled to come out of hyperspace so she took the time to move around and change into the civillian clothing. As she changed she tried to mentally prepare herself for the challenging assignment ahead of her. She had no idea what Gav was thinking but she was sure that he was having doubts about how successful they could be in their current state.

She was just sitting there thinking when the alarms went off siginalling they were about to drop out of hyperspace. Moving over to the pilots seat she took the controls double checking th at everything was in order. Gav was no doubt awake now and would be coming back into the cockpit at any moment.

Already she felt different as her mind set began to focus. Whenever she went on an undercover mission she literally became someone else. It was a talent that allowed her to be successful when others weren't. To any outside observer even one who knew her well she would be whomever she wanted them to see both in appearance and in thought.

The ship dropped out of hyperspace and she could see the planet approaching them as they moved toward it. That was where Ariel was and that was where they must go. While that was her focus in the back of her mind she also knew whoelse was t here and that was the most disturbing thought of all. When Gav came back into the cockpit he seemed different...he was rested and focused on their purpose....however she could see another determination. One not of getting ariel back....but one that seemed like...revenge? Revenge on her? No that wasn't it. As she looked back out the windows she knew who he would be taking his anger out upon and for a brief moment her heart was split in two. She knew where her loyalties had to lie....and yet now everything was called into question. This was going to be a difficult mission indeed.

[Gav Mortis]

Now adorned in more casual clothing that happened to hint at a special occasion, Gav entered the cockpit and had already begun to think like a man on his honeymoon. Relax. Their tone would be cheerful and they would make eye-contact. Relax. He would pick her up and carry her from the ship. Relax. They would smile. And touch.

"This is Arcan City Air Traffic Control, please identify yourselves and give reason for your being here." Came a voice wearily from the comm-link. Briefly, they exchanged glances.

"This is Lorcan Clucas. My wife and I, are to have our honeymoon here at the "Arcan Nights" hotel. Over." He said in an accent that hinted at a rural upbringing. Suffice to say, he'd practised playing this character before. Some Jedi knew him as a harmless, kindly man who just wanted a happy life. They would suspect nothing.

"Very well, Mr. Clucas. Proceed to Landing Platform E-14." The officer instructed then terminated the comm-link. Catherine's hands fell softly upon the control console and the shuttle's landing sequence kicked in. They had two minutes until the facade begins. Two...

"Do you feel that? She's here." Gav said suddenly, the determination on his face crumbled to a face of desperation. They weren't far behind their daughter and it ate at him. He wanted her back. Looking over to Catherine his face showed determination once more and he sat down as if to plead with her.

"Our daughter's down here. She comes first; so we put the lies and deceit aside. Let's just get this over and done with. We can do this." He finished with the utmost confidence and thought, "We will do this!"

[Live Wire]

His words hit her “we put the lies and deceit aside” and she had to hold her tongue. If this mission was going to be a success then nothing else had to matter. She took her clues from him assuming the role of a modest wife and newlywed. Catherine bent down to pick up a small pack she hid safely in a pocket and when she stood again her entire countenance had changed. She was Nabry (a play on her own middle name) Clucas and she was on her honeymoon. All senses needed to be at their full so she finally dropped the last vestiges of the wall she had put up between herself and Gav. For just a brief moment she was thrown back but she quickly recovered her mental footing.

The shuttle made its final descent and put down on the landing platform with only the slightest bump. Locking the shuttles control’s so that no one could pry while the two of them were gone she followed Gav down the ramp. All of the emotion had clouded her senses so now she fought to break through the haze. The surroundings were not familiar as she had never been on this part of the planet before. Her visits had been limited to a single docking port and then wherever Morgan had taken her. Even so, just to be back on this planet was hard for her. When she looked at Gav part of her wanted to just abandon him and strike out on her own. She could find the Jedi on her own, find Morgan and apologize for everything. She could correct the mistake she made when she turned him down. But even as the thoughts entered her mind, her heart told her that it wouldn’t happen.

She waited like the doting new wife as Gav dealt with the docking port security. It didn’t take long to convince them of their plight and once everything was secure they gathered their modest possessions and made their way to look for a place to base their operation out of. Gav offered Catherine his arm and she gritted her teeth and took it and they walked out looking like a loving couple. Once they were away from listening ears she asked him, “So what’s our first move?”

[Lorcan Clucas]

"First, we take our lodgings in an appropriate location. Close to our enemies. You know of a place we can go?" He asked as they walked arm-in-arm. This closeness didn't even phase the Sith, he had adopted this alias in front of the Jedi before and on many other occassions before that. For all intents and purposes, Lorcan Clucas is a real person. Now he's married.

Catherine gave a nod, he smiled with warmth and pulled her into his embrace close in a half cuddle. He laughed with the kind of joy that was shared only amongst those who were unravelling a true love. He had known that once so it wasn't too difficult to pull off.

"Well dear, lead the way."

[Nabry Clucas]

"Yes my love." she replied.

Catherine, now Nabry, hung onto her "husband" with all the love and affection a new wife would have. She led their way through the busy streets of Arcan IV going unnoticed by the passers by. The planet was pretty much the same as she remembered it and so it wasn't hard for her to find her way.

His embrace made her sad...it should have been for real. The love and affection it shouldn't be just an act...but not anymore. Now it was just a cover, in more ways then one.

She stopped in front of a small hotel not far from the borders of the jedi's headquarters. This was as close as they could get for the moment and was probably as close as they could be without getting caught immediately.

"I think this place should do darling."