Every Silver Lining Has its Cloud [completed]

[Lilaena De'Ville]

<center>Continued from <a href=http://www.sw-rpg.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2791>Second Chances</a></center>

De'Ville strode up the ramp into the Revenge, and turned to face the two men still standing at the bottom. Her hand rested on the ramp recall button.

Both were former apprentices of Jeseth Cloak, and both had been recently promoted to the rank of Knight of the Dark Side. They were young, eager, and still had much to learn. Actually, they couldn't be much younger than De'Ville herself. At twenty-six, nearly twenty-seven, she felt older than she looked.

The Dark side drained her every time she used it. It was intoxicating, and deadly... She craved more, yet the accumulation of power was no longer the only driving force in her life.

She spoke softly, letting the Force carry her words to the ears of those below her. "You wished to know more about those who call themselves The Black Hand. I can provide you with the information you desire." De'Ville turned and walked further into the ship, sensing her apprentice, Shaed, in the cockpit. He was warming up the engines, in preparation for a fast get-away.

It did not appear that anyone had followed them from the Bar. It was almost disappointing, TSE had let them go without a fight. Behind her she could feel the two men walking up the ramp, and she depressed the button with the Force, causing the ramp to be lifted up into the ship.

Turning around again, she waited for Eaven and Grimm to appear.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Kar'h'tzen Shaed was a loser at life. Had been cut a rawer deal by the fates than most. And some things he just could not do.

But he could do some things very well. Oh... so very well indeed.

Hiding was one of them.

Even here, on this planet - Munto Codru, not a planet he'd ever been to before - surrounded by Sith, he could hide. He masked his thoughts, his emotions - what little of them remained to him, at least.

He surrounded himself with nothing, and so became it.

The Jedi often mistook him and what he had instantly excepted as "his kind" for Sith. Crude animals who lived for blood and blood alone.

Not that he didn't live for blood... thirst to shed it. But not blood alone. Never just for violence... it was just... a perk.

He was not just Sith.

He was not just sane.

He felt De'Ville and some of the others approaching the ship... there was a sense of cloaked urgency to them, he felt. He ignored the preflight list, having gone over it thirty times already as he waited, and hit the ignition panel. The Infiltrator's engines began humming to life with a slight and strangely satisfactory keening edge to their quiet hum. The others were much nearer, now, so he keyed open the hatch and extended the ramp.

Continuing to mask his senses, he extricated his long form from the pilot's chair and folded himself into the one next to it.

He wondered - vaguely, for it was always difficult to think and mask oneself so thoroughly from Force users at the same time - what the other Dark Jedi were like. He had met very few of them... but so far they had all surpassed his expectations. They all saw clearly the things that neither a Jedi nor a Sith could.

Well. There was one Sith he knew - his last master, the Sith Master Banestone. But even he had turned from his Sith brethren, though he still followed most of those teachings and had passed that knowledge on before his... death. Best not to think of it.

De'Ville had come back, apparently without having been in the fight that he had more than half-expected them all to end up in. Good. And bad.

Think small. Think small. He did not attempt to keep his facade up before De'Ville, of course. She was the Master now. He had not met these other two. He hid his thoughts from them.

Dwell on nothing.

He vaguely wondered if they would be able to sense him or not. The planetload of Sith had not. Or they had not cared.

Darkness. Shadows. A soothing cloak, but very disconcerting because he couldn't think.

Stop thinking. Small. Nothing.

[Zasz Grimm]

<center>An Offer</center>

She was offering information on The Black Hand, something he saught after dearly. His Master...rather former Master was one of the Co-founders / Co-leaders. He had spoken of The Hand on many occasions. Zasz had even applied once before, but to no avail.

He looked up the ramp, then to Eaven. His bright red crimson hair flared up as he started to approach De'Ville up the Ramp. He watched her every movement. Power was associated with her, he could sense it, and feel it through the force. And the way she moved showed it. She was one to be reckoned with; a Dark Jedi.

The Dark Jedi Knight followed her into the sanctuary of her ship and waited for her next request / order. He quietly watched, remaining silent...

"Tell me, what information shall be revealed to us about The Black Hand ?

[Jehova Eaven]

It would seem that the Sith had let them go for now, but he somehow sensed something. Perhaps it was a sense of danger, perhaps not, either way Jehova Eaven was paranoid enough to check his body and belongings for trackers and bugs. There were none, no bugs, no trackers, merely the horrible smell of blood. The Sith certainly were animals, they probably bathed in the stuff.

He followed De'Ville to what he assumed was her ship. A fine ship indeed, TIE Infiltrator type if memory served correctly. Fast and stealthy, the ship was a very good choice to escape from Montu Cadru. Seconds had passed when De'Ville finally spoke.

"You wished to know more about those who call themselves The Black Hand. I can provide you with the information you desire."

Jehova snickered, "Its good that you've decided to stop playing these games. I was not going to stand for another wild goose chase..."

He paused. There were security forces nearby, he could sense them. A wild chill went down everyones spines as the area went completely dark for a second. Security forces were right outside the ship, but luckily Jehova had hid it just in time under one of his illusions.

When security had gone the illusion had faded revealing the ship.
"I suggest we continue this conversation from the safety of hyperspace."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"You shall see." The woman sealed the hatch as the engines seemingly flared to life by themselves. Eaven closed his eyes, concentrating, and she felt a prickle at the base of her neck. Illusions? It soon was obvious what he had done.

De'Ville shot Eaven a smoldering glance. "Do not do that again. If the Sith wanted us, they would have taken us in the bar. Your powers in the Force are not toys, but tools. Misuse them, and you cheapen everything that you are." She sealed the ramp shut behind the pair of initiates, and not for the first time pondered the wisdom of taking these two.

"You may suggest all you want, Eaven, but do not forget that I am in charge here." She left them in the passageway, sliding the door to the small living area open with a wave of her hand, but continuing on to the cockpit.

Shaed was inside...and yet, not. She felt him faintly within the cockpit, and shot a hard glance at the co-pilot's chair as she slid into the pilot seat to input the hyperjump into the nav computer. She had already plotted several possible jumps from Munto Codru, it was just a matter of chosing the correct one.

"Shaed, take the ship up and make the jump to hyperspace, then join me in the living area." De'Ville slipped out of her chair, and walked back to the door she had opened previously. The two knights had entered and were sitting somewhat uneasily across from each other over the dejerik board.

They seemed surprised to see her, and she assumed they still knew nothing about her apprentice piloting in the cockpit. He had much to learn, but Shaed was very good at some things.

She sat down, ignoring their surprise, and offered no explaination as to how her ship was piloting itself. "The Hand has entertained your petitions for membership before, and turned you both down." Their emotions spiked upwards into anger, and she smilled. "My siblings and I had our reasons. But we are now willing to accept you into Bast. Not as full members, not yet, not yet." Lilaena let her voice trail off a little, and let her cool green eyes rest on the pair.

Eaven felt brash, and excited. Grimm was a little more subdued, as if waiting for the hook. "All answers are soon coming." She gripped the arms of her chair as the Revenge went into hyperspace, using the Force to keep herself seated.

Shaed had not activated the warning for the impending jump. It would be interesting to see what the initiates did with this sudden surprise.

[Zasz Grimm]

Zasz watched on as De'Ville put Eaven in his place for abusing his powers for a simple, and mere illusion. Zasz had not gone into illusions on his own practice yet due to the fact that he wanted to further himself into power. Even if that power was brute strength he wanted it, but he possessed other abilities not yet seen...

The woman had beauty, power, respect, ruthlessness, and the ability to silence even the strongest of people. She put the Sith in their place as she had silenced them, it was interesting to watch them be put down in their place...

She had spoken to an unseen person in the cockpit...The person had masked their force signature, and was good at it since he still was not picking the person up. He would find out in due time who and what he was. De'Ville had many answers to almost all of his questions. He wanted to find out what they were, and what he had to do for them...

He felt it, they moved quickly, they hadn't given he and Eaven any warning at all. The ship jolted into hyperspace and thankfully he had his aide; the Darkside. He used it to steady him as he sat in the chair and had his organs moved upwards in his throat, or so it seemed.

This was going to be an interesting journey, one he would remember for all time..

[Jehova Eaven]

De'Ville was indeed powerful, I dared not speak back to her, but she was wrong about the Force. The Force was a tool to be used. If one thought of it as a toy, then so be it. It would merely mean that they would get more practice with it. The Force was like a blade, if you did not cut into flesh every once in a while, it would eventually dull and leave you defenseless. Power fades over time if it is not enforced, a perfect example were my people. Once, our armies rivaled that of the Imperials, but in the end we were destroyed because we did not act. I shot a glance at her and felt a strange pull.

The ship lurched forward and soon we were on our way. The sudden motion shocked me a bit, but I was used to it thanks to my father.

"Father..."

He put me through many army training courses. I remember my training as a shock trooper, taking off and landing quickly. The G's in the simulators were incredible. Spinning and flying, faster and faster until it finally didn't bother me anymore. My mother was surprised that it didn't kill me.

"Heh heh heh..." I chuckled silently.

Zasz was serious and calm as usual. Jeseth had trained him well.

[Nathaniel Nore]

The sounds of the YT-2400 luxury freighter screeched into the atmosphere.

We're tracking her sir'. She'll be in range shortly.

Nathaniel Nore sat behind a desk in his main quarters, meditating. The sound of the droid from the cockpit rung out over the intercom. He rose his head slightly.

"Good." Nore's cold words emphasized how much he did not want to be disturbed, but business was business.

The Black Hand had come across in more than one conversation. He knew thier power, thier reputation. What an opportunity, a chance to learn about the Black Hand and perhaps even be granted admittance to the underground guild of dark jedi was something not soon passed up. He had no other choice but to place a homing becon on Deville's hull.

Nore flipped on the intercom switch.

"I want a full report when we get in range of that signal."

As you wish sir'.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Well, they had entered hyperspace's soothingly wild bluewhite vortex. Shaed had issued no warning - but of course he knew the Master would be expecting the jump, and he was after all curious about these two others. De'Ville was not very open with them. She was, in fact, rather close with everyone as far as he could tell - but it seemed these ones weren't much further along Bast's echelon than he himself was.

It probably meant he was not in for a good time on this trip. But, then, when was he ever? Cruel, the universe. He'd grown to accept that.

Shrink. Small.

Now he had to go into the "living area" of the hard, insidious spaceship, per De'Ville's instructions. There were no living areas in Shaed's life.

Only ones to die in.

He had set the ship on it's way to wherever they were going - he didn't bother looking at the coordinates to see if he would recognize them. It would require thinking. He was busy hiding.

He was reasonably sure it was safe to not hide, now. But still.

He hadn't warned those two about the hyperspace jump... he'd continue his own method of measuring their reactions a bit further. Neither had expected it, both had been surprised in their own way - but one of them didn't care, and the other was... wary. Maybe because of it, maybe not. Meh.

This was all instinct, of course. No thoughts. Or few. Maybe a few. Darkness was all around him... it embraced him like a dead lover. It occured, fleetingly, to Shaed that he acted a lot different when he was hiding, to himself, than he acted - most of the time -when interacting with other beings. At those times, he behaved almost exactly like what most beings in the universe thought was normal.

The galaxy would mock him - HAD mocked him - for being different.

He would mock them for all being the same.

Kar't'zhen hooked a thumb under his goggles, brought them down over his face. He didn't need them when cloaked and hiding, all of his senses dimmed but especially his eyes when trying to conceal himself like this. But soon he was going to the LIVING quarters.

He noiselessly brought himself out of the co-pilot's chair and stalked out of the cockpit into the considerably larger - and more comfortable - passenger area, where De'Ville and the others waited and gauged each other. He could sense that.

Shaed picked a place out with his senses relatively between the Master and the other two Dark Jedi, and sat. Wrapping his black element cloak over his knees and huddling in it slightly, he made sure his fingers were securely clenched into fists about his palms and then finally dropped his comforting shroud

He was revealed to his traveling companions - tall, but his stature was hidden because of how he sat. Pale faced, dark unkempt hair - nothing would hide those but the Force. Eyes, white-irised and black-rimmed - hidden beneath his protective goggles from the harsh glare of "normal" light.

His physical eyes could see properly again and it was much easier to think, now. His aura of general pride and contempt for people who were not like them returned reassuringly.

He observed the response of the two Dark Jedi before him and the Master with unneccessarily heavy-lidded eyes. Revealed... and yet still cloaked after a fashion.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville studied the pair's reaction to the unexpected jump. Both were surprised, yet held it in well. To her right, she could feel a presence as Shaed moved into the room.

Her eyes were still fooled by the illusion, but the Force picked him out easily enough. He was not expending his energy on her, but focusing his mask in the Force on Grimm and Eaven. As he slowly reappeared, shrouded in his element cloak, she turned her eyes towards Eaven, watching his reaction to her apprentice's sudden appearance.

"This is Karshen hed fytzen Shaed. He is my apprentice, and also an initiate to the Hand." She turned her gaze to Grimm, his flaming hair in start contrast to his nearly somber face. "Do not underestimate him by his 'rank.' Everyone is a learner in the Force, unless you have truly mastered it."

She raised an eyebrow. "Which none of you have. The Force is still pulling you behind it like a child's play thing. The Hand can assist you in your journey towards mastering the Force. In return, it demands loyalty and respect from all three of you. The members of the Hand are a secretive group. You will swear an oath which you cannot break, and the Hand will own you....and you will own the Hand."

Lilaena looked at her goggled apprentice. "You three are initiates to the Hand. Not full members. There will be a trial period, in which your worth will be weighed and measured." She stood to her feet. "And it starts now."

[Nathaniel Nore]

We are approaching her sir'. Seems like the ship is about to exit hyperspace in the Lambda Sector, a planet called Vjun.

"Very well."

Nore rose and made his way to the cockpit. Setting in the captain's chair he looked at the monitor. Vjun. Interesting. He took manual control of the craft as it exited hyperspace around the huge lifeless planet. Pushing his cloak back, his Sith tattoo's were barely visible in the dimly lit cockpit. He would watch where they would land and confront Deville.

[Zasz Grimm]

Membership in it's own illusion...

He was astounded as De'Ville's apprentice made his entrance. He didn't show it, but he still was. He had managed to mask his signature for so long until now, he had great skill, that was no doubt no matter his rank.

He watched on as she explained certain things about how The Black hand could help him, and the others further their knowledge in the force, and in power. He believed her without a shadow of a doubt. She herself had power, and he watched on and listened as she began to explain more.

Loyalty. Something he knew much about.

He watched as De'Ville stood up and said that the trial started now, he himself stood up slowly, having the table across from her as distance. He was finally able to talk, and now, for his question...

"And the test?"...

[Taylor Millard]

It was then the Imperial Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace, behind Nore's ship.

On the bridge of the Star Destroyer Superior, Grand Admiral Taylor Millard stared out towards the ship as it attempted to head into the atmosphere of VJun. Millard may be an Imperial Grand Admiral, but he was also a Force User. AND a Dark Jedi in the Black Hand.

I hate combining my Imperial and Force Lives he thought as he glowered, But this is something that is unavoidable...De'Ville alerted me she thought she was being followed. This confirms it.

"Get me registry of the ship, prepare to lock tractor beam," he ordered to his first officer, Commander Ned Stark.

"Yessir," Stark spoke quickly, giving out orders. Millard had moved Stark from the flight wing to the bridge, not because of incompetence, but because Millard felt Stark was ready for more than just the hangar bay.

The black haired man returned to Millard 15 seconds later.

"The ship is registered to a Nathaniel Nore sir."

Nore... Millard's mood darkened more. The pretender to the Dark Arts had been confronted by Millard during the Festival of the Five Moons months before. The so-called 'Savior of the Black Hand' wanted to reengergize it and bring it to prominence. Instead, he'd caused trouble.

"Lock tractor beam and prepare to bring it into our hanger back. If he tries to escape, launch fighters."

"Aye sir, and the other ship?"

"Let it land...it is an ally of the mine. If Nore fires upon the ship, destroy him. Also, alert me when Nore is in our hangar bay."

Stark nodded, "Yes sir...You heard the Admiral. Do it!"

Millard nodded then turning exitted to his study.

Nore doesn't know I'm an Imperial Grand Admiral...TIme to put the fear of The Black Hand into him.

He watched...and waited.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Sir'. We appear to be caught in a tractor beam. What shall I do?

WHAT? This was suprising. He glanced out the starboard window to see none other than a Star Destroyer. This didn't make sense. He reached out. There. A force user. One of the black arts as well.

"Shut down the power. Do not fight it, that's an order."

The droid cocked its head as if it didn't understand the logic of such a decision.

As you wish sir'.

"Go in the back and shut down, I won't be needing your services anymore."

The droid did as he was told.

Nore turned his glare back on the huge starship. There was a reason he was being pulled in, and he was going to find out what it was.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Kar't'zhen had been splitting his attention three ways since their ship had reverted to realspace. One of these had been to keep cloaked but now was to listen to the Master.

Also, he was watching the Dark Jedi Knights' senses. The red-haired, somber one... he would not be a good one to play against in a round of Sabacc. Facial control rivalling Shaed's own, but of course his essence in the Force had told the true story when Shaed had - figuratively - stepped out of his own shadow.

Finally, he was watching - so very carefully, he felt like he was on the ground peering with macrobinoculars at a ship in orbit - the occupant of the ship that had been following them. He had been with the ship, hiding himself and protecting the vessel, all the while it had been on Munto Codru. Apparently his message, sent on the frequencies De'Ville had instructed him to use in case of such non-threatening emergencies, had gotten through to... whoever was in the Star Destroyer. He could not see it, was not reading computer readouts, but he was also much more free to sense things through the Force - now that he was not cloaking his essence at all. The massive object that had come out of hyperspace behind their pursuit was so large as to only possibly be none other than an Imperial Star Destroyer.

That took care of that. He glanced at De'Ville. He hadn't yet had a chance to tell her of the suspicious droid back at the Munto Codru docking bay that put something - on cautious personal imspection, it was revealed to be a tracking device - on the hull of the Sith Infiltrator. Nor to tell her of sending the warning message of somebody following them. Or even that someone was probably following them...

What a fool! Shaed involuntarily hissed at himself from behind his genetically inherited sharp-edged teeth. Idiot! He hadn't told her!

This type of thing had never been a problem when operating by himself. The fact that he lost nearly all conscious thought when masking himself didn't matter when he was BY himself, and no one NEEDED him fully aware and conscious. He hadn't told her anything about it!

De'Ville was staring at him. He'd lost track of keeping tabs on the senses of the other two... he was an frelling, kiblixed moron! She would flay him in some fashion for this, perhaps even if it all turned out well enough.

He hurredly revealed his now-coherent assessment of the situation through the Force to the Master. ...As he calmed himself into the more typical cold, loose and aloof type of anger he usually exuded. This particular side effect of Hiding had never bitten him nearly so severely before. May as well have seen someone sabotauge their hyperdrive core and not have told anyone until they were all wondering why they couldn't revert to realspace. Frelling. Keffing. FOOL.

Better late in telling her, than... well... never. Somewhere behind them, his sense of the Force adept pursuing revealed that they - he? - had been terribly suprised by the vessel now pursuing - and probably tractoring into a hangar bay by now - them. Now he - her, it? - had focused back into their previous calm resolve.

[Taylor Millard]

Millard exitted his study, striding down towards the hangar bay. He'd changed from his Imperial Grand Admiral's uniform into the normal black jumpsuit he wore when he was off duty.

"Clear the hangar bay. I want no one there," he spoke while moving quickly towards the lift.

"Any particular reason?" Stark asked.

"Yes, I don't trust this Nore character. And once the ship is aboard go into hyperspace. Somewhere, far away from here."

That and I'm the only person aboard with Force Powers... Stark, like most of the ship was not privvy to Millard's Force Ability. Only Thomas, and Serena Laran, knew his secret. A secret becoming harder to keep.

The Dark Jedi exitted the lift, then hurried towards the hangar. As he entered, he watched as the ship Nore was on came into view.

"Seal the room, and cut all power to hangar."

The hiss of the lock, and the dimming of the lights told him the computer obeyed his command.

Pulling his lightsaber out, Millard leaped into the shadows of the darkened hangar. A surge in the deck told him The Superior had gone into hyperspace.

Millard let a tight smile come to his face. It was time to see if Nore was as good of a fighter as he claimed to be.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore felt the ship shake as he knew he had been secured in the hangar. He rose from his chair and went to the landing platform as it lowered to the ground.

He walked slowly but steadily toward the indivual in the corner. The lights dimmed. Nore took no notice.

"Admiral....what a pleasant surprise."

Nore's eyes looked over Millard's lightsaber in hand.

"Please Admiral, I do not wish to fight."

Nore kept on walking through the empty hangar bay as his steps echoed through the room.

Nore's voice once again filled the room.

"Only to talk."

[Taylor Millard]

Millard leaped down infront of Nore, a dark look in his cold blue eyes. He shot the look into the eyes of Nore...then spoke.

"Then speak, Mister Nore...I will be interested in seeing what you have to say."

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore gave a slight facial expression that could be taken as a smile. He then turned softly and walked towards the giant observation window in the hangar. He crossed his hands in front of him and observed the stars as the gigantic ship sailed through hyperspace.

"First Admiral. I respect what you have done here."

Nore slightly paused.

"This empire, it is truly amazing.....and effective. I respect you Admiral Millard. Indeed. A dark jedi of the Black Hand deserves such respect, let alone a Grand Admiral. Powerful you have become. And I respect that."

Nore turned to motion at the stars as the passed in a blur.

"Someone must guide these lost animals. To keep them from straying. To punish them. To lead them. The empire does a fine job."

Nore felt as if Millard had something to say and paused to let him retort.

[Taylor Millard]

"My Empire?" Millard scoffed, "My dear Mister Nore, I am but a servant of this Empire. I serve the Empire as I always have, with my entire body, mind, and life. I believe in the Empire..."

He paused, a look of distrust in his mind, "What is it you want Mister Nore. I trust you did not come here to discuss politics. If you had, I would have invited you to Coruscant to talk to Darth Viscera himself.

What is it you want?"

[Nathaniel Nore]

"No, not politics Admiral."

He turned to face him.

"But something more important. The Black Hand."

Nore turned back to the window.

"I wish to join the dark organization. That is why I was following Lady Deville, my intent was to only talk with her. I know the underground organization is powerful in the dark arts. I believe such a relationship would be mutually benificial. Teach me Admiral, for The Black Hand is what I seek."

[Taylor Millard]

"Ah Mister Nore, you have much to learn...much to learn," Millard shook his head as he stared at the man before him.

"One does not simply go up to a leader and say, 'I want in, give me the keys to your gates', they must prove themselves worthy of membership.

"You," he let spite fill him voice, "Have not proven yourself at all.

"Did you ever bother to think why The Black Hand did not go out and announce its presence to the galaxy? It's called it likes to keep it's reputation low-key, until it has to act.

"Do you understand this, Nore?" he felt his anger begin to bubble as he glowered at the cloaked man infront of him.

[Nathaniel Nore]

"I appologize Admiral. Indeed I understand. I wish to prove myself for such an opportunity,...as you see fit of course."

[Taylor Millard]

With that, Millard's closed fist shot towards Nore, catching him off-guard as it collided with his face. Nore hit the ground, then shot up in battle position.

"If you even try to attack me, I will not hesitate to destroy you. Once we drop out of hyperspace- you will leave this ship and never come back. If you show up on VJun you will be killed, without remorse and hesitation."

Millard's expression darkened even more as his cold blue eyes glowed with fierce energy, "And if you show up on this ship, I will kill you.

"Is that understood."

It wasn't a question.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore gathered his thoughts as he stared at the Admiral.

"A man once told me, when there is no room left for insult, then comes the injury."

Nore nodded to Millard before walking towards his ship's platform ramp.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville felt a lurch as the ship left hyperspace in the Lambda Sector, and a few seconds later knew something was wrong. Behind them there was an anomaly in the Force...another ship.

The only thing was, there weren't many members of the Hand that had their own ships. Cloak was forever stealing transportation, and Millard's ship could hardly be hidden.

Even as she was running these thoughts through her mind, she felt a larger disturbance...one filled with many different life senses. She shot a glance at Shaed, and for a moment wondered if he was allright.

"You failed to tell me something." She whispered, for his ears only. De'Ville may not have been able to communicate through the mind, but she had adapted in other ways. The Force carried her vocal tones to her apprentice. The others would have had to be focusing on him to have been able to pick it up.

She sat in her chair and gripped the armrests as the ship lurched into hyperspace again, and her apprentice related what he knew to her mind. Interesting.

They were heading for the meteor belt in the Alderaanian system. The trip from here would take at least six hours. In the mean time, she planned on having a little fun with these three.

"Eaven, you are terribly quiet. Tell me what you think of this."

[Taylor Millard]

Millard smiled, "Mister Nore, you disappoint me. Although your restraint is commendable, you are not ready yet. One must always be prepared for combat, regardless of the situation."

He backed up, heading towards the lift, "When we drop out of hyperspace you will be let go.

"But do not even think of going back to VJun. You will be told the same as I told you. But you will not leave alive. Remember that."

He exitted, then walked back towards the bridge.

"Seal the hangar bay. And come out of hyperspace in 2 minutes."

"Yes sir."

Nore had much to learn. Millard only hoped he wasn't dumb enough to get himself killed.

[Jehova Eaven]

I stood as I felt the signature of Nathaniel Nore, he had been following me since the fight in the nightclub. At the time, it didn't bother me but now he was becoming quite the pest. He had something in mind, as for what I couldn't tell.

I stared out the nearest view port to find that we were out of hyper space, near my master's second home. Vjun, a hot desolate planet, almost completely devoid of any life. Only the Dark Jedi dwelled there. Would this be where we would land? I had been there a couple of times before seeking my mentor. My gaze of the planet was broken by the entry of a large Imperial ship. I stared for a second then realized that they had caught the bounty hunter/force adept in a tractor beam. As quickly as it appeared, it had disappeared with Nore onboard.

A chuckle escaped my lips.

A slight bump and we re-entered hyper space. That was when I began to wonder who had set the coordinates and the jumps into the ship's computer. It couldn't have been De'Ville, she had no time to do the pre-jump calculations. Then whom...? My senses picked up a small darkling sitting beside her. It was shocking how I had not picked him up until now. It was safe to assume that his illusions were more potent than mine. Then I remembered De'Ville speaking about a Shaed.... this must be her apprentice.

"...ven, you are terribly quiet. Tell me what you think of this."

It was De'Ville again. I pushed the thoughts of my family and of Shaed aside. A faint memory of her speaking about being initiates and not full members of the Hand entered my mind.

"Of being put on a trial period?" A slight smirk appeared on my face. "I guarantee that I shall pass any test that you give me."

[Nathaniel Nore]

"Of course Admiral." Nore smiled.

As he left the hangar bay, Nore turned to walk toward his ship. The sounds of footsteps and a slight laughter was all that could be heard.

Pushing back his cloak revealing 3 small electronic charges hidden underneath his robes, attached to his belt beside his lightsaber.
He turned quickly, using the force to throw the charges with accuracy as they stuck to the wall and began to hum a slight, faint, sound.

Minutes passed, and the starship came out of hyperspace and Nore flew into the fresh atomosphere.

Now, don't come back. Millard's voice rang over the intercom for the last time.

"One must pick his battles Admiral....and fight them accordingly. The last mistake you'll ever make." Nore's cold words dug into Millard.

Nore's ship went into hyperspace and initiated his cloaking device, masking his presense. Millard watched all this from the bridge. Nore had much to lea...

BOOOOOOM. BOOOOOOOOM. BIKOOOOOM.

The starship shook with ferocity. Crew members were thrown from thier chairs, if not for Millard's force ability, he too would have been thrown.

"Sir, damage to the hangar bay! The ship seems to be fine, the explosives werent that powerful. But the hangar has taken considerable damage. The ships power supply has been drained momentarily by the blast, what shall we do sir?"

Millard was furious.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville nodded slowly. "We shall see." Getting to her feet again, she dismissed the trio of hopefuls. "We have six hours ahead of us. Spend them how you will, however only Shaed is allowed in the cockpit. And no one is to go by my cabin."

She moved towards the door, and retired to her room.

Sitting at her desk she let out a breath that seemed to have been pent up since the encounter with Dara Shadowtide. She rubbed tiredness away from her eyes, and remembered the Empire's haughty attitude towards her. When she had been a member of the Order she had gotten more respect from those that had been considered "brothers" in the Force.

Now her brother was Death and her sister, Hate.

The Sith never fully understood her. Nor would they now get a chance to.

De'Ville rubbed her hand over her prickly scalp, and switched on a datapad, going over some notes. Neither of the men had said anything about her lack of hair...nor had she found them to be wondering about it. Probably think it is something I did to make myself look hard edged.

The truth was she had lost a large part of her hair in a duel with Shaed. And to show that at any level of mastery in the Force there was still much to learn, she was allowing her hair (trimmed to a uniform rate) to grow back in at a normal, un-enhanced rate. It was probably a source of pride to Shaed. Actually, she had not probed his feelings to see how he felt about it at all.

De'Ville tapped out a few more keystrokes, and then cut the lights in her room. Laying back on her bed, she sunk into a meditation trance...breathing deeply and evenly.

For Jedi, meditation was a way of life. For a Dark Jedi, meditation could be rough, and unsettling. De'Ville's eyes closed, and she felt anger around her...inside her. She delved into it, and concentrated, separating feelings from fact, and compartmentalizing her thoughts.

Six hours. For a moment she wondered how the other three were getting along...and then she was swept away by a flood of hate, further into her trance.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Shaed quietly watched De'Ville exit the main staging area - or, "living", area - of the Infiltrator. She was hiding it well enough, but she seemed... tired, worn maybe... from something. Actually, she had for some time, now. Hopefully it was nothing serious. Meditation was not something Shaed was adept at, but he saw the beneficial results it had for most others.

Now he was alone, with the quiet one who wanted to learn and the cocky one who reminded Shaed slightly of himself, annoyingly enough. He was not fond of mirrors, however little they reflected. There was always a flaw to be found in oneself...

Physical mirrors were different matters. He cared nothing for them, one way or the other. Appearances - what did they matter? It was probably the only good thing being a half breed had ever taught him.

You just couldn't judge a holonovel by the chip it's electronically stored in. Even musculature and facial expressions did not always tell the true story of a person. Certainly not attire, or hair styles, or what humans or any other species defined to be as "beauty".

Shaed nodded to the two Dark Jedi in acknowledgement, and then returned to the cockpit. Not in the mood to talk.

Not ever, actually. He just was not inclined to be talkative - it wasn't that he couldn't find anything to say, or that he hated to engage in verbal communication.

Kar't'zhen bent and sat crosslegged in the middle of the cockpit floor. He raised his fists and slowly opened them, to stare at his tattooed palms.

The past on the one. The future on the other.

Some future. But it was the one he had chosen...

He closed his eyes, then, and relaxed as he went searching one last time over the entire ship with the Force - finding just normal ship activity, a raging De'Ville, and of course the two Knights - before attempting to sink into a trance. Meditation came hard for him... usually. He was too restless inside to focus on what always seemed such a trivial thing.

But it was a good way to pass time, and Shaed was soon able to sink deep into this trance.

These trances were nothing at all like what he'd been taught at the Jedi Academy. No calm... no peace... rarely any relaxation. But it did bring clarity, purpose, desire, and sometimes even glimpses of things which were... not. Not yet, anyway.

Anger slowly trickled through him, pooling in his soul. He let himself drown.

[Zasz Grimm]

Someone had sounded the general retreat, for everyone was leaving to go and do their own routine. What that may be, made little matter to him. He had traveled far and his road brought him here...and now.

He himself dipped his head in a nod to Jehova, before he turned around and found a corner. As he sat down on the wall seat he looked around and found himself quite alone; that to his liking. The dark corner was lit up to a bright crimson red, he had activated his lightsaber and stared into the bright light. It was fascinating, how it cut, how it did it's task...

It was time for a new one, he had already started on it and it was time to continue his work. He deactivated his saber and clipped it to his belt as he took out the needed tools, the already constructed part of the new weapon. It already had the crimson red Adegan Crystal, and the needed powercell. He eyed the curved hilt and sighed as he began to work on it some more with the tools...

It was tedious work, time consuming and nerve wracking. He had to get it just right, or their could be a malfunction and instead of the blade leaving from the top, it could leave from the bottom and cut into himself. He put the tools away and then the nearly completed lightsaber. He held it's weight, it was an interesting tool, especially the type of alloy he used...

He looked up as he put the saber away and sighed. Where were they going, and what did De'Ville have planned for the initiate trio? All questions, things that sent his mind into a migraine and he sighed. He was there, so close, yet so far.

He leaned his head back and went to a place that his master said would be useful. Meditation.

"Once you master your mind, you master the universe"...

Something that his master; Jeseth Cloak had once said to him. It was true, using the Dark Side to bring order to chaos. In the mind many things played out. Death, power, allies, treason, and even self destruction. So many things to silence and bend to your own will to make power yours, and further yourself into the Dark Side. He inhaled once more as he began to let his thoughts rule his mind...

[Jehova Eaven]

The TIE infiltrator seemed empty, the coldness of space around the ship amplified that empty feeling, converting it into loneliness. All the dark feelings around you seem amplified when you are by yourself. At least thats what Jehova thought as he sat looking out a viewport. The blue-ish hue of hyper space was all that was to be seen but it still soothed the soul like watching a planet being born. All the anger, the negative feelings that were previously manifested inside of him vanished or so it seemed and soon he was in a deep sleep.

Wake up, my apprentice." the voice spoke.

It was a voice he had not heard in a long time, a long time. The voice of the scythe, the spirit of a long forgotten dark lord.

"You have done well to make it this far, but do not get too cocky. The difficult part is yet to come and you still have much to learn. Listen to the dark woman, she is indeed wise and she may just be the ally we need."

"Yes, Master...." Jehova awoke from his trance, the scythe deactivated and in his hand. He once again stared out, the blue hue still outside. They were still traveling through hyperspace. He closed his eyes and started dwelling on his master's words.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville's eyes snapped open, and she swung her legs off the bed, feet touching the floor. She felt refreshed, but still tired, at the same time. Rising to her feet, she took two steps forward towards the bulkhead, and tapped out a code on a small keypad.

Her doors made a small noise as they sealed, and then there were three seconds of silence. De'Ville felt the three initiates inside the ship, in various modes of inactivity. Three seconds passed.

A slight hissing sound was masked by the sounds of the ships hyperdrive engines, and a highly potent gas was released inside the Revenge. One whiff of the odorless gas and a humanoid would be unconscious for an hour.

De'Ville waited four more seconds, for the gas to work, and then five minutes for internal fans to cleanse the air outside her room again. As the doors unsealed, she strode out into the corridor. Once in the main room, she saw Eaven and Grimm, both in separate corners of the room. One was holding a new weapon, the other, a scythe of some sort. Walking onwards she reached the cockpit just as the ship transitioned out of hyperspace.

Just beyond their position was the meteor belt which was all that was left of Alderaan.

To the immediate right was an old freighter. De'Ville knew for a fact that the hyperdrive was offline, and a group of skilled mechanics had scratched their heads for hours, unable to get it to run again. Sublights only. Long range scanners were also down, and there were a myriad of other small problems with the freighter. She'd gotten a good deal on it.

She smiled a little, and levitated Shaed's body, moving him out of the pilot's seat and down the hallyway towards the cargo hold. De'Ville unlocked the bay and deposited him within the doors, and then repeated the process with the other two initiates.

Making sure all three still had all their posessions, she eyed the two functioning escape pods she had loaded into her cargo hold. Two, yet three beings. De'Ville settled Eaven into one, and sealed it, and then placed Grimm and her apprentice inside the other. It was a tight fit, but they would not be too uncomfortable when they awoke. It wasn't as if one was a Wookiee.

She pushed the pods as near to the hatch as possible, then retreated to the ship side of the doors, and sealed the cargo hold off from the rest of the Revenge. De'Ville punched the outer door release, and the pods were sucked out into space.

She ran up into the cockpit, carefully manuevering the ship around to face the pods. They drifted between the Infiltrator and the freighter, beyond the dangerous maze of the meteors. She checked her chrono. They would be coming to ina few minutes, depending on how high their tolerance was to the gas. Eaven and Shaed she was not sure about, given their differences to humans, but Grimm would be coming around in ten minutes.

Once they started moving inside their pods, a message would play for them.

"This is your test. Return to Vjun...but return together or not at all."

De'Ville activated her hyperdrive, and micro-jumped to the edge of the system. Far away...but not too far.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Dark. Spinning. Spin...? What?

Shaed forced his unnatural-looking eyes open and connected to the Force. So groggy. His mouth was dry, he noted absently.

...What had happened? He was definitely alive, but he could not yet understand what it was he was seeing. A drug? A gas?

There was something on top of him... he was now aware that he was, indeed, quite uncomfortable in this position.

...What position...?

Oh, frelling kriff...

Shaed stiffened and shoved Zasz blindly into the other side of the cramped escape pod. There was a little porthole to his left and he could see the pinpricks of stars through the transparisteel.

He leaned over to it. It was only two feet away... frell, this was definitely one of the escape pods stuck in the hold of De'Ville's Sith Infiltrator.

And it was definitely... escaped... from the Revenge.

Also, he and Grimm were apparently floating slowly into an asteroid field. That was wonderful.

It didn't take long for him to realize that the other Dark Jedi Knight, the one named Jehova, was in a similar - though less cramped - environment, maybe fifty meters away.

"This is your test. Return to Vjun...but return together or not at all."

The automatic recording made Zasz start to wake up. For now, Shaed could think of nothing better to do than to stare through his near-opaque goggles at him.

[Zasz Grimm]

"...return together or not at all...."

He heard the words of De'Ville as he was waking up. He had felt being pushed before by her apprentice and looked around. He was in a pod, and a cramped one at that...How did he...

She must have knocked him out somehow when he was meditating! But how?...It didn't matter now anyways. He moved around groggily but was moving as he looked out the port into the dead of space...

Eaven was in the other pod no doubt, with more room and ample space. He looked to De'Ville's apprentice as his hand went to his lightsaber for a moment, but then went away from it as he spoke...

"Push me into the hull again, and there will be none"

He came off as angry, and he was. But why display it when they had to get out of here as a team...together. So be it, this was the test. She had chosen an odd test at that. Challenging, yet no battles, at least not hand to hand. It was a possibility, but so far the only thing he predicted would be arguing between the 3, if they all got back together...

"What is our Status?..."

He looked at his goggled face, it was obvious he was awaiting his awakening to go any further. He moved around and got to a position to where he was staring at the readouts. A freighter was not that far away from both pods, he began to speak again...

"Can we make that ship?"

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Shaed glanced over the same readouts, Zasz's head close enough to knock into his if the pod was jolted somehow. There was a freighter... well, a ship of some sort, large enough for the distinction of freighter. The sensor array for this little slice of escape pod hell was about as old and shot as they came.

Looking around the pod a bit more, Shaed came to the conclusion that the communications system had been completely ripped out, and the fuel for the maneuvering thrusters was so low - rather, the readout SAID it was abysmally low - that he doubted there was enough for more than a single course adjustment, maybe two. It would help if they were headed for the asteroids, or to get them to that other ship out there...

Then again, knowing De'Ville, the other ship was either filled with pirates, carnivorous monsters, toxic (or no) atmosphere - or all of them combined - it would be completely useless and a decoy.

Shaed sighed softly. Grimm was not taking well to being stuck into a claustrophobia-inducing, derelict excuse for an escape pod with a mostly silent partner who didn't mind trying to throw him into the wall.

He spoke, after reaching out with the Force and confirming some of his suspicions.

"Yes... we can make the ship. But not with the fuel we have. We can point ourselves at it with a great amount of luck, but that will be about it. But we always have options."

Feeling gingerly with tendrils of the Force, he determined that the ship actually WAS a freighter, some Corellian design - probably Zasz had known the same way, but he'd thought to do it before him. He felt out the area of space around them for a while, and also determined that they were not in any danger of running into the asteroid field any time soon. Their current - and very slow - trajectory was taking them a bit above it, and they would probably pass within two hundred feet of the freighter at their closest point.

Also, he was now sure that the freighter was empty. No pirates or other living surprises, then, unless they were Force-adepts and well-trained in the art of concealing themselves.

Still feeling sullen from having woken up unexpectedly in this place, Shaed no longer spoke but instead told Grimm this bit of news via the Force and recommended they not even try testing out the thrusters until they were near that point. And again, he felt through the other escape pod, to see if Eaven was awake yet... irritatingly enough, he was not. Kar'tzhen rapped an invisible hand on the inside of the pod through the Force to make a loud noise. He doubted he could stimulate him awake mentally with any success, and he knew he was unable to purge Jehova of the gas toxins - from any distance, let alone this. The other pod had drifted about two hundred feet apart from theirs - assuming they had started off together - and had a different trajectory as well.

[Jehova Eaven]

Jehova had heard a strange noise on board the ship, at first it sounded like a leaky pipe but soon it started to effect his senses.
"That definitely wasn't a coolant leak." he said to himself inside the floating pod, just awakening from the effects of the gas. "So master, why didn't you warn me about this?" he asked aloud, of course there was no answer.

"This is your test. Return to Vjun...but return together or not at all."

A message on a loop, it was that cunning witch. So this was her test.... perhaps it wouldn't be as easy as he previously thought. He looked around, apparently they were near an asteroid field. The pod continued to drift.... a Corellian bulk freighter. The pod turned once again, another pod that wasn't too far off.

He laughed. So... she got them too.

"How is that for your loyalty, Zasz?"

It must be cramped in that pod. Of course it wasn't much better in his. The pod barely had enough room for his wings, but he could at least reach the controls. The readout showed little fuel and even less oxygen.

Sithspit...

[Zasz Grimm]

He looked out the view port into the deep cold black space and saw the pod. Eaven was there, in that small pod with probably the same amount of fuel, maybe he could get to the freighter if we could contact him...

He turned back to look at Shaed and he sighed as he let his thoughts go deeper. She had chosen a task that seemed almost impossible. They had very little fuel, and being cramped up in the pod didn't exactly help.

"What options do you mean, what else do we have?"

Maybe he another way through the force, maybe he meant something else. Zasz couldn't read his thoughts and was rather fed up at the moment. So many things. The freighter. What was on it, he didn't know. It was a more likely way to get to Vjun than this pod. They needed to get there, and fast...

"We need to get to the ship..."

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

"With the Force... there are always options."

Shaed considered the black-and-diamond "sky" of space, beyond their small pod. Probably, if they could join their strength, they could draw themselves and the ship towards each other. In this null gravity situation, such a proposition was not impossible even if they had all been raw new recruits.

"Zasz... open yourself to the Force, draw it in. We will try to join our strengths with Jehova's and pull ourselves towards that ship as soon as we're as close to it as our escape pods will ever be. I would suggest either you or he control our grasp of the Force. Also... I would suggest that you... or he... not forget to slow us down before we hit it. We don't even know if there are proper docking ports on the freighter for these kriffing pods... but we will once we get close enough."

Shaed closed his eyes, opened his soul. The Dark Side rushed in, supplementing what pieces of it he had already been using... then he opened himself, felt Zasz emulate him from a foot away. Kar't'zhen felt for Eaven's mind, found it easily, and told him what they were trying. Absolute control was essential to success in this venture. It was far easier to list the things that could go right than the multitude of ways it could all go... wrong. Too much velocity would damage the pods against the freighter and kill the occupants. Not even the most talented Dark Jedi could breathe in a vacuum. An asteroid could smash them or the freighter out of the black sky, if undetected by the three in time. Of maybe the pods would just start to fall apart; they certainly LOOKED like they could.

[Zasz Grimm]

His thoughts raced as he looked out the view port and caught the other pod in his vision. De'Ville's apprentice was right, this was needed. We had to get their and the Dark Side was the way...

He took a deep breathe as he start to concentrate on the task at hand. He had to call out to the force and somehow draw the pod towards the rather large freighter and move it somewhat. He closed his eyes as his concentration deepend and everything seemed small...

He tapped into his aide, the Dark Side and began to move, along with Shaed's help, the pod. He inhaled deeply again as the pod began to move slowly in the cold dark space. He kept his concentration and didn't stop at all. At this perspective the task seemed small, yet in another, great.

He felt Shaed's presence next to him grow and seem to brighten in it's own way. Eaven's seemed to just be able to be seen even better in this way. They were all linked together right there, in a common goal...But they had to stop when they were getting close..

[Jehova Eaven]

He knew this wouldn't work. The Force was a great ally, but under the circumstances; the fact that none of them were trained to the master level, the fact that they were short on air and fuel, and the fact that there were asteroids dangerously close to their flight path, and who knew if the freighter had a hatch that was easily opened.

No, he would not participate with them and exhaust his much needed energy and oxygen. He took another, more detailed reading of the fuel supply for the boosters. By his calculations there was enough for two short bursts. One would act as a short thruster to propel him in the right direction, and the other would then be used as a brake of sorts. It should, in theory, be enough to slow him down enough to get to the surface of the ship. What to do from there was of no consequence if he didn't make it, so he didn't bother to think about it.

He waited as the pod drifted and turned towards the ship. Then with great vigor he pushed the switch for the booster. It gave the pod much needed momentum apparently in the right direction. The ship came closer and closer to him as he rushed towards it. Now all that was left was to hit the brakes at the right time.

"Five, four, three, two, one..."

He hit the switch as quickly as possible and the thruster activated. It slowed him down, but apparently not enough to fully stop him. He tapped the hull of the freighter and a slight hole opened in the hull of the pod. The air inside started to escape quickly, he had to act fast.

Jehova ripped his shirt and plugged the whole with it. It wasn't a permanent seal and it wouldn't last long, but at least that solved one problem... now onto the next.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

The fool would rather retain his pride than add to their strength in the Force. Very well... he would go his way, Zasz and Shaed would go theirs... out of neccessity. Unfortunately.

With Grimm's power added to his own, Shaed precisely activated their escape pod's thrusters to bring them to a promising region of the freighter. Eaven had almost reached it.

Together, the two occupants of their little floating prison gripped the freighter and pulled, adding to their speed and to the precision of their pod's movement.

Shaed could feel that there was no hatch on the area they were going to connect with... empty space lay beyond the bulkhead. A lot of it... so it was a cargo area. He and Zasz also observed Eaven's approach to the freighter, and saw how their movement of the ship in this zero-G environment had upset the other Dark Jedi's calculations and caused him to ram into it. There was a hole in that pod now... but not as serious as it could have been. However, Jehova's vessel had bounced back off into space, although slowly.

Zasz and Shaed's pod touched the surface of the ship. They had perhaps a fourth of their fuel left, not enough for anything remotely usefull. Time for a lightsaber entry, they both thought and agreed.

But... Jehova was still having problems, and they had to all come back together. Shaed was rapidly growing irritable under all these peculiar circumstances...

With strength that he alone did not possess, he reached out with the Force and fused the molecules of the hull of their pod with that of the Corellian vessel, forming an air seal. Zasz could now safely cut through the middle of the fused circles... safely, that is, assuming the air of the freighter was not poisoned or something.

Reaching further away, he fused the hole in Eaven's escape pod together. Although the hull there was now thinner, it would last longer than a shirt... and it was just a small crack and dent, anyway.

[Zasz Grimm]

He looked to Shaed, then back towards the hull of the pod that was now air sealed against that of the Correlian freighter. Entry was needed quickly and immediatly. Zasz removed his lightsaber from the hilt on his belt, he held it in his hand and looked to Shaed...

For his insolence and self doubt in himself, Jehova had made a rather large problem for himself, one that he would have to get out of quickly, or Shaed and Zasz would have to assist somehow, in some way...

He pointed the end of the saber that would bring forth the plasmic energy from the lightsaber hilt at the below point of where the seal was made, so he could make a hole large enough in both hulls for each person to get through...

The dark crimson glow came to life immediately as the blade went through the pod's hull and through the Correlian Vessel. He carefully moved the lightsaber around in a circle, making sure to cut precise, yet rather quickly. The metal that was being cut was glowing a bright orange from the lightsabers immense heat and it was superheating it. When the circle was done, he deactivated his saber and clipped it on his belt...

He moved his hand forward and quickly hit the peace of metal with his palm and it moved forward. The musty air hit them both immediately, but he looked to Shaed as he nodded and immediately began to climb in the hole he had just cut. He managed to move from the pod into the freighter, but on the way he looked out into space and then to the freighter. His hands found the other side and he pulled himself into it. He stood up and stepped back slowly, to make sure he could keep his footing.

The light from the pod into the freighter wasn't that great for the area, so he took out his lightsaber and ignited the blade, the crimson hue lighting up a small area, he found the pieces he had cut from the hull. He looked to the hole and expected Shaed any moment...

Zasz reached out with the Dark Side and spoke into Shaed's mind..

Your turn now...

[Jehova Eaven]

<center>"Jehova..."</center>

Master beckoned, he really had a strange sense of timing but he had gotten him out of various life-threatening situations so it didn't really bother him.

<center>"Yes, Master..."</center>

<center>"You have really put yourself in quite a predicament this time, didn't De'Ville tell you to work together."</center>

<center>"Master, you know that I work better when I work alone."</center>

<center>"SILENCE! I will lend you my power so that you can get to that freighter, after that I want you to gain their trust. Is that understood?"</center>

<center>"Yes..."</center>

With that the faint light returned to the pod, and everything was quiet once again. Well, except for the annoying noise of the oxygen escaping. That didn't bother Jehova anymore, he felt an enormous surge of power rising within him. He felt it before, and the sheer extent of that power still frightened him. He raised his arms and aimed them towards the ship. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the ship, it was large, normally he wouldn't be able to move it, but now with his master's power at his command it was nothing. He reached out with the Force and pulled at the ship, slowly it began moving toward him until the pod and the ship touched once again. With minimal exertion he held the pod in that position while he reached for his scythe.

<center>"Alright, time to get out of this cramped space."</center>

With the flip of a small switch the beam activated and ripped a small hole large enough for him to get in. He squeezed through the hole and looked around the ship. "This won't do.." he thought, "Now theres a huge whole in the side of the freighter, the ship will implode unless I find something to cover it."

He once again did a quick sweep of the room, it was dark but his Ambrelian eyes could see like those of a cat's in the dark. What luck, a large metal container sat in the corner of the room. He pulled it towards him and over to the hole and the pod.

<center>"I won't be needing that pod anymore."</center>

With a thought the pod was pushed out into space, to drift until it was smashed apart on the asteroids.

<center>"Well done, Alexiel"</center>

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Your turn now...

Shaed hopped, stooped over, through the hole in the side of the escape pod and into the Corellian freighter. The air was old and... dry, he supposed was the only way to describe it. The fused seal of metal holding the pod to the ship was just as strong as the durasteel bulkheads, so there was no need to seal Zasz' newly-created entryway - which had been done both expediently and well, Shaed noted.

The Dark Jedi apprentice looked back into the dark recesses of the freighter's hold, lit only by the faint red light of Grimm's lightsaber. It was, perhaps unsurprisingly, quite empty. In all probability, this vessel was even more of a useless derelict than their cramped pod had been. At least there was - for now - plenty of air for them. Disgustingly dead air, but it didn't matter.

At least it wasn't poisonous. And at least there were no surprises for them in here.

Or... were there? If this piece of Corellian junk was inoperable - a reasonably assumption, considering that it had been left here for so long - then perhaps De'Ville had never intended for them to try and enter it. Ah, well... only one way to find out.

Shaed and Grimm were no longer sharing their Force energy with each other, as it was not neccessary. They could each feel Eaven, off in the other side of the freighter. So, at least the nerf-brained Dark Jedi was still alive and with them. Shaed wondered how long they would last if they all truly HAD to work together to survive at all.

He stepped forward, towards a closed hatch that seemed to lead into the ship's main corridor. He levitated his lengthy lightsaber handle into his left hand, but left it inactivated and pushed his goggles up with his right hand. The dark was as clear as day to him.

[Zasz Grimm]

Zasz moved his saber upwards to his face and he moved it out in the direction of Shaed and he walked behind him, remaining silent for their was no reason to talk right now. His thoughts rested on Eaven for a moment and how much of a problem he had made, but managed to luck out of....

He watched on as Shaed neared a hatch of some kind and had began to touch the pad. It wouldn't open. He wasn't that surprised as he moved a little closer. Shaed had tried the manual over-ride and it didn't do anything to the door either. It must have been rusted or welded shut. Regardless, Zasz moved forwards and quickly put his Lightsaber blade into the metal door and moved it back and forth, cutting out a rather large rectangle. As he neared where Shaed was he stepped back so that he could continue.

Zasz looked to the door and saw that it was coming to an end of the cutting and when he was finished it fell forward. Zasz peered in and he stepped through the cut hole, as he was stepping in he saw a flashing red light. Curious, he thought nothing in the ship was turned on until it started to take a shape. The flashing light was moving upwards as if standing and he heard a lock as if a gun was about to be fired.

A blaster shot pierced the sound and he brought his blade upwards to deflect it. It bounced off and into the ground and then an onslaught of them were fired in his direction and he brought his blade to deflect several of them until he dove to the left, allowing Shaed to enter. Zasz brought his blade up to block another blade as he stood up and started to deflect more blaster bolts..

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville sat looking at a screen quietly, sitting comfortably while Grimm dodged a remotes' energy blasts. Unlike training remotes, these levitating droids were powered up mugh higher, and could sufficiently damage one of the three, if they were not careful.

She steepled her fingers beneath her chin, and watched, and waited. There were cameras hidden in the freighter, so she could keep an eye on the three. Eaven was not to be seen yet..no there he was. Later than the others, but on the ship, nonetheless. So far so good.

Only time would tell. She would hate to lose Shaed before she found out where Banestone's body was. But some things were inevitable. Soon the trio would find that the hyperdrive was fine, but the nav computer was offline...meaning that they would have to compute a rather difficult manual jump. And there was not enough air in the life support systems to maintain three people for a trip of that length.

As she saw it there were a few choices. One of which was making a smaller jump to another system and getting the frieghter repaired. If they had any credits.

Feeling a prickle in the middle of her back, De'Ville looked behind her, but saw nothing. Strange. She returned her gaze to the screens in front of her.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

It all happened fairly fast. Grimm was just opening the door of this decrepit, derelict piece of space junk - and then, the next moment, the two of them were caught in a firefight.

Time slowed. So did Shaed's breathing, Zasz's dive to the left, and the incoming blaster bolts.

Of course, time still progessed as rapidly as ever. But Shaed's awareness of it and ability to react had been heightened quite a bit by using the Force.

Lights, holocam, action.

Shaed dove forward through the hole Zasz had sliced through the door. He caught his momentum with his feet against some sturdier piece of rubbish in the dark corridor and snapped his left hand and lightsaber up, activating it during the same motion and deflecting a droid's shot right back at it's torso.

Only the bolt flew through empty air and guttered a small crater in the bulkhead behind the droid. More red lights blinked and rose through the dark corridor at both ends, and unleashed a small yet deadly hail of fire at the two Dark Jedi. They were obviously droids, he could hear them, they shot like droids, and they had no minds to sense through the Force. But... ah. The flashes of blaster fire and lightsaber blades had disoriented his eyes, but now he saw - in glimpses between the whirling flashes of light and death - that the droids were quite small. Not soldiers, not even bodyguards. Remotes of some kind.

More shots flew from the clear darkness and either missed their dodging marks or were bounced back, generally towards the remotes. The blaster bolts were thin, nearly like training blasts. But obviously not, judging from the damage that was being done to the freighter's corridor around them.

Shaed's fingers danced like they were playing a sythnesizer as he manipulated his elaborately deadly lightsaber. The remote closest to he and Grimm met it's fate by being split in two. Two more hissing remotes, further away, spat small arms blaster fire and then were smashed into the bulkhead and broken by Zasz. Kar't'zhen managed to reflect one shot back into a fourth remote, more by pure chance then the ability to predict the spherical floating droid's programmed reflexes. This fight would not last long, unexpected though it had been.

[Jehova Eaven]

The ship drifted, the seal he made with the large crate would hold. The suction of space would keep the hole closed and keep the air within the bulk freighter. To make sure though, Jehova activated his scythe and started tracing the outline of the box welding it to the hull of the ship.

"Hmph, well that takes care of that."

He looked around, attempting to sense Zasz and Shaed. He only sensed Zasz. Perhaps it was because of his affiliation with Jeseth Cloak, this had to be it. Jehova held his concentration a little longer and finally was able to sense LD's student.

As he stepped forward through the only door leading out of the room he was immediately bombarded with the smell of decay and rust. This ship was old, he looked around in the dark and saw no one, only a few doors. One would lead to Shaed and Zasz, the other should lead to the cockpit.

"Hmm, they'll find the way on their own." he headed in the door opposite of their lifesigns.

[Zasz Grimm]

He watches as Shaed took out two of the firing droids, or rather remotes. They had to have been, other wise this fight would have already been over seconds after it had started. His wrists were moving back and forth rather quickly. Blaster bolts were deflected and thrown back at the droids, not hitting them, but landing close.

He had been deflecting both of the remotes blaster bolts and he flipped into the air suddenly in the confined space. He brought his crimson red blade up and watched as a blaster bolt hit it and was deflected back right dead center to the remote. He moved forward, but with the aide of his ally; The Dark Side. His movements were enhanced with speed as he moved left and right quickly. He was beside the remote as he moved his blade downwards with a spin and it was turned offline, due to the impact of his lightsaber.

He turned and looked back to Shaed, the problem that had just been given to them was now over. He looked around, using the lightsabers brightness to see around him...

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

As the last remote fell, Shaed shut off his lightsaber and raised his goggles. Blinking, his eyes soon adjusted back to the darkness of the ship's interior.

There was, he saw, a door a little ways up the corridor he and Zasz were in. It seemed to be the likeliest route to the cockpit, so he nodded to Grimm and started heading that way.

He felt Eaven up ahead, moving away from the two of them and probably to the cockpit door already.

Shaed walked up to the door he had noted earlier, and it slid open relatively easily when he thumbed the basic control panel set into the corridor wall beside it.

Just in time to see a door past it slide shut, presumably on Eaven's heels. Nice of him to wait, Shaed noted sarcastically.

[Zasz Grimm]

Zasz held the hilt of his lightsaber blade slightly to the right as he moved behind Shaed, as to not wound him, or his comrade. Shaed moved quickly when the remotes came to life, he had been trained well. His quietness decieved those around him, however, most of those who stay quiet, are often those that are revered...

As he was behind Shaed, he also saw the door infront of them close. Eaven must have been infront of them, taking his own path. Seemed to be a quick one.

Zasz watched on as Shaed went through the door and Zasz behind him. Zasz looked around at the control pannels and then to Shaed, and now to Eaven. What worked, he had no idea. Shaed had seemed to be the one to know most about ships...

"Will this thing even power up...?"

[Jehova Eaven]

He looked back at them and then back at the controls. A few switches here, and a few there. The displays promtly came to life as power on the ship was restored. The computer showed that the hyperdrive was down, either the entire system was shot or it was just the nav computer.

"Done?" he looked back at Zasz as he entered. "I hope one of you is good at nav calculations. The hyperdrive computer is down and from what I see..."

He looked back at the controls.

"We're low on fuel."

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

...Nav calculations? Well, that wouldn't be Shaed. He might not be human, but he couldn't compute the numbers required for a hyperspace jump any more than a yardstick could.

Shaed shook his head slowly. At least he was good at repairing machines.

Sort of.

Frell.

He sighed inaudibly and headed right back through the door, headed for the engine compartments.

The silence was there, but it was hard to hear it through the activation cycle Eaven had put the cargo ship through... the occasional light blinked on and off or stayed on, power hummed through conductive wires...

Ah, the hyperdrive. It looked functional enough. For being a twenty year old piece of junk, anyway.

The apprentice started opening compartments of the hyperdrive core and making sure its status as "working junk" was not misleading.

Minutes ticked by, but eventually Shaed closed it all up again with grease on his mostly gloved hands.

As far as I can tell, the hyperdrive should be functional... but the self diagnostics on it say it isn't.

Shaed looked at it, eyes narrowing. He'd seen innumerable cases like this before. Any seat-of-the-pants pilot or mechanic in the galaxy worth the salt in his pores had.

He carefully drew back one black-booted foot.

Gauged the distance.

Tensed his leg muscles...

And kicked the core as hard as he could.

As reward for three bruised toes, a small green indicator light on the hyperdrive core assembly blinked on.

It works now.

But how to chart a course to safety, with low fuel and no nav computer...

[Zasz Grimm]

His crimson eyes went to Jehova as he told them what he saw on the readouts. The sounds of the ship powering up were rather loud, but it was an old piece of junk. Zasz knew what was wrong as Shaed and Jehova voiced it. Arching is brow he looked to Jehova and then back to Shaed as he started to walk off, no doubt to go check on the old hyperdrive to see if it was working.

Apparently it was, Zasz looked around, it seemed as if everyone was just waiting to be told what to do. They were low on fuel, and the nav computer was broken. It would probably be ill advised to set a course manually. It would risk everyone's lives, and probably end them. That course of action would be rather stupid. No, they had to repair it and get more fuel. But where?

He turned and looked at Jehova as he voiced an opinion, or rather an idea that may get them out of this...

"Can we get somewhere to repair the Nav Computer, and refuel? Is there a system nearby that we can possibly do this? I have no credit's, but I am sure that a willing person can be found"

He also relayed the message to Shaed through the darkside to Shaed, due to the fact that he was down with the hyperdrive..

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

This was definitely a bad day. But worst of all, it was getting boring. All talk and little action made Shaed an irritated creature.

He walked to a computer access terminal, still lounging around in the freighter's hyperdrive access room, flipping the screen on with the Force.

I suppose we could navigate manually. If we knew where in frell we were. Either of you much of a hand at recognizing star system patterns?

The problem, of course, with star patterns was that without a single set point to observe them from, you could easily mistake one star system for any of a hundred other similar ones at certain angles - unless the system was VERY disctinctive.

Shaed punched up the forward holocam. It, quite strangely, worked fine with just a hint of static glimmering at the edges of the display. His eyes were greeted with a thousand points of painful light - light which had travelled for billions of miles and timeparts to meet him, light thrown off by the suns of a thousand galaxies that he would never visit.

There was a grouping of five stars there, which could be the "Hammer". Of course, there were no less than eighty groupings of stars that Shaed knew looked like that at certain angles - and probably hundreds more. He was used to working with a good deal of technology under his gloved fingertips.

Still, maybe by some twist of luck there was a star cluster out there that was a prominent spacemark, that was unique. Maybe.

Shaed's stomach growled as he pondered the stars.

If we can find some inhabited system worth getting to by recognizing where we are, we can just aim and fire the hyperdrive up. Gravitic sensors will pull us out before we smash into any stars or satellites. If we can find some inhabited system to aim at.

He didn't sound very hopeful.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville watched the two men inside the ship, and tapped her fingers on the console. Soon they would get the hyperdrive going..and they'd be off.

The homing beacon affixed to the rattle-trap freighter would make sure they didn't get too lost. De'Ville readied to pursue them.

[Jehova Eaven]

"Hmph, we could of course acquire a new ship. Does the communications array work? We could activate the distress beacon then."

He looked towards Zasz, who stood near the communications console.

[Zasz Grimm]

Zasz looked to Eaven and shrugged off getting anyone on the radio, no one would be around here, it was a waste. Zasz sighed and thought for a second. The hyperdrive was working, he thought. He had done some star studying before, and how often he went around in his personal craft, running his small little 'errands'. He had the viewport opened in the ship and stared out. Alderaan, they were where the floating debris of Alderaan was...

The Pyria System was not that far away, and that meant that Borleias would be near. It was a base taken up by the empire, invaded by the Vong, then taken up by the NR. It had been abandoned, but Zasz had heard a rumor that there was a base in the orbit of the planet. Perfect spot to refuel, and repair the Nav computer. If the people didn't comply, he was sure they could be made too. He opened his mind to them both, not particularly wanting to speak.


"I can get us to a place to refuel and repair, but we will have to trick them with a distress call, or convince them we have money."

He moved back to where the hyperdrive was and typed in some rather lengthy coordinates into it, since he was doing it manually, it made it rather hard. He sighed as he stopped for a moment and looked to Shaed who was right there. He looked back and then typed a few more numbers in and then hit enter.

The large freighter's drive powered up and moved quickly. After a few moments, it stopped and Zasz looked around. He was still there, and so was Shaed. He went to the main control center where Eaven was and then looked around. Borelias. And Zasz was right, there were some ships orbiting.

He looked to Eaven with a smile of triumph, but almost immediately the radio coming to life with hails from the other vessels. Now, how would they ask them to help with the Nav Computer, and refueling?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville watched the freighter start moving...then accelerate and shuddered into hyperspace. She activated the homing device, and yawned.

A few moments later the device started transmitting new coordinates. Borelias. She hesitated, then plotted a jump to the system.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

It appeared his delicate touch was no longer needed with the hyperdrive core, so Shaed also moved back up to the front of the freighter. Just in time to catch a view of the planet, Borelias - just as Zasz had predicted - as their comm board suddenly pinged with incoming communications.

"Well, the rest of this should be fairly simple," he observed. "No need to ask for repairs, we'll just take something that's already floating around out there in better shape than this crate."

...Easier said than done, however. The ship's fuel gauge conveniently informed them - in a prissy tone - that the engines would fail in five seconds from lack of fuel. Moreover, Zasz and Shaed tried to send out a distress message, only to find that their communications array was mostly shot, and the bits that weren't were decrepit. Eaven continued to stare out through the cockpit transparisteel.

Well, frell. They didn't have time for this. A concerned and responsible citizen of Borelias was about ten minutes off and closing, likely to investigate the hapless Corellian freighter. They read his hails with some static and difficulty, but they couldn't reply in any conventional sense.

"Core...an... ter, you ain... ookin' s... good! Need so... hel...? Yer gon... cras... to that orbita... tellite if you ke... ing... that he........."

Shaed grunted. Of course they were going to plow right through the satellite in front of them in a minute or so if they didn't change their course.

The pilot of the broadcasting ship - a small transport, looked like - was coming closer. Not close enough, yet. Soon...

Got it.

Shaed quickly ransacked the hapless pilot's mind, as soon as he could sense it clearly enough. "Ransacked" was not quite the right word. He was, in effect, turning over every self-commanding stone the man had in his brain and rewriting them. It took some time, but the man was weak. Took long enough that the trio's freighter crushed the weather satellite, though. Too bad.

Zasz was saying something about a hull breach on the bottom plating of the freighter.

The pilot of the incoming ship, now a few minutes away or less, had the uncontrollable urge to stop talking into his com system and to concentrate on docking with the unknown freighter - such a nice, lovely, safe-looking freighter - instead. So he did, and he felt more satisfaction at having done that job well than he could ever remember feeling before about... well... ANYthing! Life was great! He would be rewarded, he knew, so he hummed to himself annoyingly as he waited in his pilot's seat for his passengers to come onboard.

Just in case Eaven and Grimm could not tell what he was doing - and they couldn't, except that the other ship was docking with them and that Shaed was acting fairly detatched from reality - Kar'h'tzen informed the pair that a convenient transport had been acquired for them, and that they would be boarding it.

"Someone reward the pilot for helping us so kindly," he dryly added as he opened the freighter's ship-to-ship docking seal.

"Looks like the next stop is Vjun, gentlemen."

There were quite a few more ships hailing the coupled freighter and transport ships, now. Probably law-enforcement cruisers were on the way, too - not sure whether a destroyed satellite and wrecked freighter meant the passengers were menaces or in need of help. Shaed smirked, but didn't suppose they would stick around long enough to find out.

[Jehova Eaven]

Instantly all of their problems were miraculously solved. One after another the trio had solved each problem with ease. Eaven was somewhat suspicious though, the witch's tests could not be so easy. He slightly chuckled when the boy Shaed spoke, good Samaritan that was a laugh. He read the other man's mind, already he was tainted by the dark.

"I'll thank our gracious host."

As he stepped aboard the new ship, the semi-fresh air bombarded his skin and nostrils. It was a pleasant change from the stale air aboard De'Ville's freighter. An older humanoid stepped forth from behind a corner with a slight grin on his face.

"Well, it looks like I helped you guys just in time."

Eaven spoke with a coy smile, "Yes, you did. It was nice of you to stop and help us. I'm Jehova Eaven, these are my associates. "

Eaven reached out his hand to shake the gentleman's hand. In his mind Eaven could tell that the man wanted compensation. Almost in response to the man's thought, Eaven's eyes glowed light blue. A spark of energy went surging through the man's arm killing nerves and bursting blood cells on its way to his brain.

"Silly humans, why can't you help out of the kindness of your heart?" He looked at Zasz as he stepped behind him.

[Zasz Grimm]

Zasz watched as the man fell Dead, he looked to Eaven and nodded. They were finally off of that Freighter. The air of the newly acquired transport was welcome with a deep inhalation of it. He looked back to Shaed who was now looking back down into the freighter before pressing a button, the docking between the two ships breaking off.

Zasz moved towards where the man was at the cockpit. He eyed the controls, then moved his hands over them to get a feel as he started making careful preparations for the hyper jump. They weren't that far off from succeeding in what they had set out to do in the beginning. De'Ville had given them a challenge. Though it seemed small in words, it was an entirely different situation in going through it. But it was done. He moved his hand over some buttons and the Navigation Calculations were now in, and he looked back to Shaed and Eaven.

"Might want to sit down, going to be entering hyperspace in a moment. To Vjun."

He wait for them to both sit down until he flipped the switch to go into the jump. He did so and he was pushed back slightly in his chair. They would be at Vjun in mere hours, due to the fact that De'Ville didn't have them that far away in the first place.

<center> Three Hours Later </center>

Zasz looked back to Shaed and Eaven, they had apparently been silent the whole time. Everyone had probably talked all they wanted to during the test. The transport was breaking through Vjun's atmosphere rather smoothly. Zasz put in the coordinates for Bast Castle and sighed as it came into view rather quickly. Zasz had the ship going as fast as it could, then slowed it down gradually before landing.

The Ramp drew outward and the ship began to power down as the three initiates walked off the ramp. The trio looked at each other then began to proceed to the Gates of Bast Castle. When they were about five meters away, the gates opened inward, allowing them all entry.

They all walked in at the same time, but shadow consumed them with their entry. Behind them the doors began to close, as they did so they seemed to bang. Now all three were consumed with the great castle.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville powered down her ship on Vjun, after following the trio's newly aquired transport with little difficulty, and smiled to herself. Test passed. She stood to her feet, and walked through the passages in the Revenge, and started down the descending ramp.

She would welcome them to the Hand herself, in the Hall of Sorrows.

Her footsteps echoed in the dank hallways of the castle, as she made her way up from the underground hangar. The gate above her closed with a crash, and she smiled again. Welcome.