The Long Road Home

[Live Wire]

OOC: If anyone wants to join in LW's return RP let me know prior to posting and I'll see how we can work you in. If you dont want to join then I hope you enjoy the read.




The sith mistress formerly known as Live Wire stood at the window of her little apartment on Coruscant. It was a fairly small place considering its prominent location but it suited her and Ariel just fine. The never ending streams of traffic were like lines of ants across the skyline; A constant reminder that everyone else had somewhere to go but for her daily life didn't offer much variety. It had been nearly a year since she had taken Ariel and packed up and left Corellia and she had begun to get settled. It was amusing to think what everyone would say to know that there was a former sith mistress of TSO living in their building. Despite her having cut ties with her past she had begun to train her daughter in basic lightsaber skills. Not that she wanted that life for her but it was something she felt she needed to pass down. The universe was a dangerous place no matter what side of the force you were on and survivial was something everyone had to learn at a young age. The bodyguard that stood at their door was a constant reminder of that.

The decision to hire him was made a couple months ago after she had noticed strange people surveiling their apartment. Catherine didn't really expect anyone from TSO to be looking for her except maybe Lady Vader. But then Lady Vader would have shot in her front door by now if she knew where to find them. The only other person who might be interested in her whereabouts was Gav Mortis, Ariel's father. Of course stalkers really weren't his style either. As careful as she had been it was possible someone with a grudge had found here. There were plenty of people who would like to take advantage of the fact that she was away from the safe haven of TSO and relatively vulnerable.
Vulnerability was not a feeling she was by any means accustomed to and she didn't like the idea that someone out there knew who and what she was. On Coruscant she had dropped any semblance of her former life and was simply known as Catherine Dalamar. People just assumed she was the daughter of some wealthy businessman who was living off of family money and she was going to go on letting them believe whatever they liked.

While she had lost none of her abilities she had refrained from using the force as much as possible just in case someone with force sensitivity picked up on it. All in all it was a paranoid little existance. But to her credit Ariel had adjusted well enough and never questioned why they had left the only place she ever called home. After Gav left the order it had thrown her life upside down and made her start to question the choices she had made thus far in her life. She was starting to look back on her life and wonder if she should have taken another path. Could it really be possible that this was not the life she was meant to have...and if that was true what was she doing to her daughter by forcing her into that same life. Everything was so overwhelming she had to leave. Telling everyone hadn't been an option, they would just try to convince her to stay and she wasn't very good with goodbye's anyway. So one night she packed up and left. Whether this life was easier, she hadn't decided that yet, but it was simpler and sometimes we need to unclutter our lives so we can see things clearly.

[Space Pirates]

Jeniver sat in her speeder and cracked her knuckles impatiently while the woman next to her kept watch on the small apartment with her macrobinoculars. This was ridiculous they had been sitting on this place for god knows how long and all she wanted to do was rush the place. The rest of her people, or rather what was left of them after the last attack by the Cizerack, were at a space port not far away ready to follow her orders. However on this mission she was not the one in charge.
Angrily she ran her hands through her hair. “Enough of this! We’ve been sitting here for weeks and for what? We know that she’s here, she’s alone, and she hasn’t had any contact with anyone for months.” How the other woman could remain so calm she didn’t understand and it just irritated her further. “If we keep waiting here we’ll miss our chance!”
The other woman just lowered her macrobinoculars and stared at her with cold unblinking eyes. Her face was hidden beneath layers of fabric that made up the heavy hood of a cloak. If the other woman wasn’t so strong in the force Jenvier would have defied her. As it was she was almost ready to take her chances in a fight, as small as those would be.
After another hour of doing nothing she just couldn’t take it anymore. If she looked at one more speeder wiz by she’d go crazy. There was nothing out here but endless lines of traffic and that disconcerting view down into the depths of the planet that always made her feel queasy. Grabbing the controls she started up the speeder.

[Alealyan Ysulia]

Alealyan had been tiring of Jeniver’s constant impatience and questioning. She was a woman driven by the emotion of the moment and didn’t think things through nearly enough. That was why she had never gotten the best of Live Wire and that was why Alealyan was the one running this show. She had waited nearly her entire life for this moment and she was not going to let anyone screw it up.
As Jeniver reached for the controls Alealyan quickly drew the blaster from her shoulder holster. “You don’t want to do that.” Jeniver looked back at her shocked that the younger woman had dared to pull a weapon on her. The look in her eyes however told her that she was serious. Alealyan never drew a weapon unless she was ready to use it and this was no different. “I haven’t waited for this just to have an incompetent pirate screw it up for me.”
Sneering, Jeniver took back her hand and slumped down in her seat. There had been a time that she was one of the best pirates in the sector but now it was time for that ego to take a backseat to someone who knew what they were doing. Her senses attuned Alealyan brought her binoculars back to her eyes in time to see Live Wire approach the window of her apartment. She would have been lying if part of her didn’t want to take her our right at that moment but the rest of her knew that the true pleasure would come not in her death but in her suffering. Yes Live Wire had to suffer as she had made Alealyan suffer all of her life. And then, once she had paid for her crimes, then she would let Jeniver kill her, but not a moment before.
“Patience. Her time will come.” She smiled as she envisioned the sweet taste of revenge and her green eyes danced with anticipation. Indeed her time was going to come sooner then she expected

[Imported_Huntress]

The foyer in front of the repulsorlift was quiet as it should be. Anyone entering the building had to have a special resident’s code and then only one repulsorlift code would give them access to this floor. The plush carpet muffled the sound of her black knee boots as she walked over to the window at the far end of the hall. Everything looked normal but both she and Live Wire had been on edge. Huntress, as she preferred to be known as, wasn’t a force adept but she did have an uncanny good luck that had been with her all of her life. It had served her well and she had learned to trust her intuition.

She pulled her long black hair out of her face as she looked out of the window. She saw a speeder sitting on a docking platform across the way. To the naked eye it was unoccupied but something about it bothered her. It had been there frequently over the past couple of months but she had never seen anyone enter or exit it.

Huntress entered the apartment with her rifle slung over her shoulder. She had been a long time friend of Live Wire and when she had made the decision to leave the order Huntress had helped her get her new life started under the radar of the rest of the world. Live Wire had helped her many times in the past and she owed her, her life many times over. In fact she was the closest thing to a friend in the universe.

Ariel ran to her and embraced her as she made her way into the back room. “I’m beginning to grow more and more concerned Catherine. There’s something…” She stopped as Live Wire held up her hand and made a motion with her eyes toward Ariel.

[Live Wire]

“Ariel, honey, why don’t you go play in the other room?” She planted a kiss on the little girl’s cheek. Ariel looked at her suspiciously as if to say I know when you’re talking about stuff you don’t want me to hear about. While she was a perceptive kid and probably knew half of what was really going on Catherine felt some need to protect her from the darker realities as much as possible. There was no need to have her worried too. She was quite proud of the little girls keen awareness it was something that could get her into trouble.

Once she was out of earshot, or as close out of earshot as she could get for a force adept, she closed the door and walked back to the window. “It’s the speeder that has you worried isn’t it?” She sighed and flopped down onto her bed. “It’s been in the back of my mind as well but why I’m still not clear.” It had been so long since she had disappeared it was about time for someone to have tracked them down and that’s what she feared. They had covered their tracks, traveling under assumed names, changed the name and make in the registry of the ship. It was enough to keep people from finding them for a time, but not forever.

[Ariel Dalamar Mortis]

Ariel looked up at her mother skeptically. They always did this when they were talking about the old home. She didn’t know why they had left but she knew better then to question her mother on the matter. It had been so long and Ariel missed her friends, she missed her home, and most of all she missed her father. Not that her father was a constant presence but he did always make time for her.

But if they were here they were here for a reason. She smiled to herself as she used her acute hearing to listen in on the adult’s conversation. There wasn’t much they could do to stop her from listening in. Though her mother had told her not to use the force any more then she could help she just couldn’t resist this. Laying back on the couch pretending to be studying she eavesdropped quietly.

[Alealyan Ysulia]

It seemed that Jeniver had gotten most of the restlessness out of her system but Alealyan was keeping an eye on her anyway. There were people working on getting codes to get into the exclusive building and once they had them they could plan their strike. With only Live Wire and her bounty hunter bodyguard they would be an easy take. Her plot was already mapped out they’d kill the child and the bounty hunter and take Live Wire captive. She wouldn’t make it anywhere for help. They had her apartment under surveillance, her ship was being watched, so was the markets the made deliveries to the apartment. It was all covered and she was feeling fairly confident.
Jeniver was asleep and she looked at her in annoyance, though she was thankful for the silence. The desire for revenge had made Jeniver edgy, she had suffered too many defeats and problems that she blamed the sith mistress for. Any and every misfortune she experienced she added to the account she held against her. That was what made the two women different. Revenge had made Alealyan sharper. True her life had not started out so great and for that Live Wire or whatever she was calling herself these days, would pay. But as for the rest of her life, that was her business and her business alone. Her life’s path was her choices and she had made some pretty good ones.
She keyed up the surveillance camera they had placed on Live Wire’s ship, now registered as The Refuge, and all seemed quiet. There were five men there watching it just in case they had a means to escape that no one else knew about. However considering the building it was an unlikely eventuality.

[DarthDarkCloak]

[i] All signs pointed here to Coruscant. The stops at Korriban and Ord Mantell were to assure that she wasn't followed. It was exactly what Cloak wanted. This false sense of security made Live Wire easier to keep track of. In fact, he knew Live Wire could get to Coruscant undetected. He knew that any lowlife with enough credits could get to Coruscant undetected. And one thing he also knew was that it would take only a few credits to find em again. Everything had it's price on Coruscant.</p>

The lights flickered in the crowded shuttle. Beings of all sorts of colors and types filled the seats and aisles. Cloak sat alone in a corner leaned against the wall, meditating. His tattered brown cloak and dusty luggage resembled that of a refugee. They made him fit in with the crowd aboard the shuttle. As the shuttle docked everyone moved to the blaster doors and prepared to exit. The craft was one of thousands that made trips back and fourth to Coruscant. This one was from Ord Mantell and the passengers were carefully screened. There was no telling if a bounty hunter had slipped aboard, so extra precautions were taken. As the Blaster Doors opened, there was a short walk out of the public docks, past the private docks, to the Bureau of Intergalactic Security or BIS. Their walk would be guarded by armed soldiers, just to make sure none slipped away. Cloaks task was heavy, he knew he couldn't make it past BIS undetected so his greatest chances lied in never getting there.</p>

"Welcome to Coruscant, the center of your known galaxy" Spoke an automated voice as Cloak exited the craft. The air smelt of fuel, metal and sauder as the droids and heavy machinery moved about around them. "Lets go", ordered one armed guard before giving cloak a nudge foward with the tip of his blaster. Cloak moved on clutching his saber within his robes and fighting himself not to draw it. As he made his way down the long walkway he searched frantically for an out, but one hadn't surfaced.</p>

Past the public dock was the private docks. These docks were alot less busy and usually extremely quiet, save the eventual craft moving to an fro. As they neared the end of the private docks, a sensation hit Cloak. He turned only to notice a ship that had been docked in the facility. It was an all too familiar craft and a sight for sore eyes. "By the blood of Lord Bane himself. MY luck keeps getting better and better." With the help of the force, cloak slipped into the shadows near the ship unoticed and the band of travelers moved on at blaster point.</p>

"Well, well, well, If I'll be. If it isn't the Strike. I'm closer than I thought........."</p>

[Imported_Huntress]

“Yeah it’s the speeder.” Huntress looked back out the window to where it sat. “I don’t like it. I really think we should cut our losses and relocate. I have contacts all over this galaxy and we could resettle you just about anywhere.” One look at Catherine’s face told her that she wasn’t going to go for it. It wasn’t like she really expected her too but they had been here for far too long and it was making her nervous.

In fact she couldn’t think of the last time she had been in one place this long. Permanence bothered her because it meant you leave a lot of traceable evidence. If you keep moving there’s less of a chance anyone will find you. The whole idea of living on Coruscant just made matters worse. Yes hiding in plain sight often works but there were way too many people here who were willing to talk for a few credits. However she knew Catherine wouldn’t settle anywhere completely backwater. She wanted Ariel to at least feel like she had a normal life even if the little girl already knew the truth of who she was.

“I know you don’t like it but that’s my recommendation. I’ll protect you with my life but just know that everything I tell you is for your own good. You’re the one who doesn’t want to be found ya know.”

[DarthDarkCloak]

"Now to find something to lead me to you LW......."</p>

Cloak could tell that LW had been here before, several times. He made his way around the ship only to be discovered.</p>

"Can I help you sir", rang out a voice from behind cloak. "A beautiful ship she is", Cloak replied without turning to face him. He knew he had a blaster pointed on him and he had to think fast. "Yeah, it's ok", the man replied. "Whats it called", Cloak asked still buying for time. "It's the refuge, it belongs to my boss." Just then the man signaled for four others to join him, and they surrounded Cloak. "So whats it to you stranger?" "Nothing really, I just thought I'd purchase one someday. So your boss, she pay you to......."</p>

Before cloak could finish his sentence the men opened fire on him. He spun hard and his saber sprang to life deflecting the first blast and redirecting a second into one of the henchmens leg. Cloak activated the second blade and took off right for the guards. The flashes of light all headed straight for cloak and headed off in some other direction as the green blade met them infront of him. As he reached them, Cloak threw one into a wall with the force crushing his chest. Cloaks saber then swung gracefully through the air and then through one of the henchmens arms. The return swing met anothers leg and then a followup severed his midsection. The last ran off down the docks.</p>

"My leg!" screamed one of the guards as cloaks deactivated his saber. Cloak went to him.... "Who do you work for?" "I never met him", replied the henchmen. "Tell me what you know or you'll end up like your friends." "Ok", he replied. "Sometimes we work at the marketplace. These people come for her stuff every so often." "Who's stuff?" Cloak replied. " I dunno, someone real important."

</p> With that, cloak ignited his saber. "What are you doing? You said you wouldn't kill me", cried the man as panic set in. Cloak smiled, "What do I look like to you a Jedi?"</p>

[Space Pirates]

Jenniver awoke when one of the alarms started going off. One of the men watching the ship had activated the panic alarm. Quickly she got on her comlink and paged them. “Surveillance team one come in.” When there was no response she got worried. “Surveillance team one please respond.” After the second time she paged Len, now her business partner and husband, who himself had just heard the alarms. Alealyan was calling up the cameras around Live Wire’s ship and her face twisted in rage at what she saw.
“Oh my god.” All they saw were the bodies of the team strewn about the docking platform. As she ordered Len to form a team to investigate she recognized the type of wounds. “Those men were killed by a saber.” The Jedi didn’t kill that savagely or that indiscriminately, that only left one option. “The sith are looking for Live Wire and their close to finding her if they found her ship. We can’t afford to wait much longer, if we do they’ll find her before us and we’ll lose our chance.”
She could tell Alealyan hadn’t planned on this turn of events. They should have moved in weeks ago but no, they had to wait on her timetable and now the whole plan was in danger of falling through. Jeniver had invested too much time and resources, not to mention people’s lives, in this operation and to have it fall through would be the worst failure of her career. One quick call to Len moved up their timetable to the next morning. It would have been preferable to move in immediately but there were reinforcements who wouldn’t make it to them in time. Moving up the timetable meant going in less prepared but with significant man power they could manage it. Alealyan didn’t object to the change as she too felt the desperation of the situation. Calling in her own resources to back them up keep the building under complete surveillance
If their pattern held true Live Wire and her bodyguard wouldn’t leave the building for the rest of the day. If somehow they got wind that someone was looking for them and tried to run hopefully her and Alealyan would be enough to stop them. In the morning the operation would be quick and neat. They should have building codes ready to go before the sunrise and once they were obtained a strike team would storm the building and take her out.

[DarthDarkCloak]

All was quiet in the maketplace when Cloak arrived. All save a small cantina, that was always open. Inside music was playing and drunken discussions were being held. If Cloak was going to get any information, it would be here.</p>

Cloak took a seat at the end of the bar and asked for a Correlian whiskey. As he waited, he surveyed the room. He noticed an old man sitting alone at a booth off in a corner. Just then the bartender returned with Cloaks drinks. The bartender noticed where cloaks attention was and turned to him. "Oh, thats old Fai'car. He never talks to anyone. He just travels the markets all day and comes here for a few drinks. Tips well, but a strange one he is. Word has it that there aint too much that goes on in this marketplace he don't know about. It's why he doesn't talk. He's always a watching. Matter fact, he's been watching you sinced you got here. Maybe it's because he know he aint seen ya before. Oh well, That'll be 6 credits." Cloak slid 10 credits across the bar and made his way for Fai'car with his drink.</p>

"Whiskey", Cloak asked as he took a seat. "Correlian?", replied the old man. "Of course", Cloak said with a smile. "Alright, what can I do you for." "I'm looking for something, but I'm not quite sure what", said Cloak. "Alot of new people have been coming to this market place. But I'm partically interested in a small group of people who visit regularly now. They stand out on the account that they have another group of people always watching and following them", Cloak continued as he slid a few credits across the table. " I suppose I've seen em around a few times, they work for someone, someone who don't get out much, but the name doesn't ring a bell." With that, cloak slid a few more credits across the table. "You know what? I just remembered. Word is theres a new gal around these parts, a rich one, daughter of somesort of businessman or something. She goes by the name of Dalamar. Now them workers, they were being watched for a few weeks now. Different people each day it's been. They follow them all the way back to an apartment not far from here. I'll tell you what, gimme another round and I'll take you there." Cloak thought a second, and agreed. "Deal."</p>

[Live Wire]

Catherine turned off the light in Ariel’s room and took one last glance at the peaceful sleeping face before closing the door. She took the news of their decision to move much better then her mother expected her too. Where they were going to end up she wasn’t quite sure yet and she hated to make this decision but her feelings were too strong to be ignored. Something was drastically amiss and Huntress was fairly adamant about their getting out as soon as possible. Most of the arrangements were already made, her and Ariel would go through the public transportation systems and Huntress would take The Refuge and meet them later at a designated point. Once there they would take off together to wherever it is Huntress decided would be safe for them.

Walking back to the living area she took one last look around the small apartment. Part of her never really was able to call this place home and part of her knew the next place wouldn’t exactly be home either. Despite that she enjoyed the freedom to just be Catherine again or rather discover who Catherine really was. Live Wire was the only identity she had ever known and the only life she ever knew living but the discovery of pieces of her past let her know that there was more to her. By abandoning the Live Wire part of her life and becoming solely Catherine Abryn Dalamar she discovered a part of her independent of all that. It was a part of her she had come to like, her only regret was that the man she loved wasn’t a part of it; that was the one thing she would have done differently.

As she sat down on the long couch Huntress plopped a plate of food in front of her. “Arrangements have all been made. You should eat something tonight because we’re leaving early.” She nodded in silent agreement and ate slowly. She’d have to finish her packing early. Fortunately they had lived rather simply despite the appearance to the contrary and there wasn’t much to take with them. Huntress was heading back out to stand watch by the turbolift “aren’t you going to sleep tonight Huntress? Tomorrow will be a long day for you too.” Huntress turned back to her with a surprised look, “Don’t worry about me. I’ve gone without sleep more often then not and I’d feel more comfortable knowing all is quiet.” With that she bowed and stepped outside. Honestly Catherine wasn’t all too sure she felt like sleeping either. In the past couple hours alone she felt a sense of urgency growing and wondered if she had already delayed to long. Before going to bed she set up her droid R7D9 to keep watch in Ariel’s room and planted a kiss on the little girl’s forehead.

[DarthDarkCloak]

"So this is the place", Cloak thought to himself as he eyed LW's building. "So, how do I get to you now Dalamar? Can't walk through the front door, you'd just run again. Perhaps I could wait for you to come out to me, but that would take too long. Perhaps I should rethink my approach, because I'm sure I'm not the only one watching this place.</p>

Cloak then returned his hood to his pale head and backed away into the shadows. He was now fully alert, he observed this mysterious building and it's surroundings. Something was about to happen and he knew it. For now he had the cover of night as his aid, and he would use it to his best advantage.</p>

[Imported_Huntress]

Huntress paced up and down in the hallway all her senses on alert. The hours were ticking down on the chronometer above the window and somehow she felt like it was more of a countdown, to what she didn’t know. All seemed quiet and normal but it was times like those that she had learned the worst could happen. There was a chair that Catherine had placed out there for her to sit and relax but tonight there was no relaxation and her heart beat in time to the chronometer’s consistent ticking.
She passed the night like that her body showing no signs of wear or fatigue. Only an hour till dawn, an hour before she would wake Catherine up, an hour more and she would relax. Once Catherine and Ariel were on the transport she would breathe a sigh of relief, but only then. The sky was getting lighter and lighter in the east as dawn approached and as she turned her back to the window the building shook with the blast of a bomb and all hell broke loose.

[Live Wire]

If there wasn’t a hole in the carpet by morning Catherine would be surprised. She paced back and forth past the window wringing her hands together nervously. Huntress was standing watch outside and 7D9 was monitoring Ariel; there was no reason for her to be this nervous. They were well guarded, the building was secure, and she and Huntress were two of the best fighters around. So why couldn’t she stop pacing?

The room was already empty of all of her personal belongings. The closet was empty, the clothes all packed; the desk and bookcase were cleaned off and the contents were in boxes by the door. Ariel and her each had small bags with their immediate items that they would take with them; Huntress would take care of all of the big packages once they had gone. Not having anything to do was one of the worst feelings, it was right up there with not being able to do anything, and both described this very moment. Right now her bed was looking very appealing and she realized that should there be problems tomorrow everyone would need her at her best and while she used to function adequately when she was sleep deprived it had been awhile since she was in the best of shape mentally.

So finally she succumbed to the desire to rest and lay down on the bed intending to get a couple hours sleep. She hadn’t laid down for long when she awoke to the sound of a bomb blast and shots rang out outside the building.

[Space Pirates]

Everything had been put in motion, pass codes had been obtained, her people were in place, and they would move in just before dawn a quiet hour when no one would expect it. A bomb had been set in the building adjacent to Live Wires which would be enough to rattle the other building and distract them long enough to move in and do the job. Jenniver was quite pleased with herself and her finger danced over the detonator. This would be the sweetest job she had ever done. Finally she would pay back that smug sith bitch for everything she had done to her: for killing her first husband, for condemning her to a life second rate pirating and running from the Cizerack with whom that cursed TSO did business with. All debts would be called in and paid in full.

As the sky grew lighter she got the signal from Len that all their people were in place and once Alealyan confirmed that her people had activated the bomb all was ready to go. Snipers were in place in three of the buildings surrounding the area and she was confident that this was a foolproof plan. Getting the final go ahead she pressed the button and watched as the early morning sky lit up with fire. Activating the speeder she raced to the building entrance.

[Alealyan Ysulia]

Alealyan activated her purple saber and leaped out of the speeder as soon as it was close enough to the platform. Simultaneously two other teams were storming the side and back entrances armed with blasters. Inputting the hacked security codes she stormed the lobby of the building and decapitated the security guard. “Pathetic rent a body’s” she muttered as she inputted the correct code for Live Wires floor. Jenniver was right behind her saber in one hand and blaster in the other fending off the other guards who had come out of the wood work. There wasn’t much opposition as the other two teams had the buildings cordoned off. “Make sure no one enters or leaves the building, stand guard in case someone investigating the bomb gets too nosey.” The turbolift arrived and the two women hopped in first with three other men following behind.

[Ket Van Derveld]

What a night this had been. Ket had no idea he would have gone from doing a bit of side business on Coruscant to this! He had been following Cloak since he had arived, sensing that he was looking for someone he hadn't seen in quite a while. Live Wire. an old friend from his days of the Empire. Thankfully for this dammed armour of his, he was able to to do this following undetected. He had used the force to shrould himself from people's minds and his armour to sheild himself from people's view. Using a combonation of lasers and mirrors, his armour was able to literaly bend the light around his body and make it seem as if there was nothing there but thin air. But, here was the catch. Ket hadn't been able to work out a few flaws and as a result, the armour's stealth sheild fluctuated from time to time, causing a ripple to occure, which made it seem like a ripple in water in the shape of his body.

Thankfully, he didn't spot Cloak at the port until night time. Chance as well. Ket was waiting for his transport off of Corascant to Correllia when he saw him. But now, this was the time for a watchfull eye. He saw LW in the window earlier, and had seen Cloak walk up to said building as well. He wasn;t sure if that really was LW, but it looked a little like her. Thank god for vision ehnacements in the armour as well. And then he saw the bomb go off.

"Uh oh...if that IS LW in there, I hope she is ok..."

[Live Wire]

Live Wire grabbed her lightsaber from underneath her pillow and her blaster from off of her desk and ran into Ariel’s room. The little girl was sitting up in bed her eyes as wide as saucers. Quickly she punched a code into the wall safe pulling out a small lightsaber and backpack. Tossing them to Ariel she opened the closet door and spoke a password. The rug rolled back and a hatch in the floor lifted up. Ariel was still in her pj’s but she had quickly recovered from her initial shock. “You know what to do honey. You’ll be safe down here, when everything is all right me or huntress will come for you. You know how to use the saber and everything you need is in that backpack.” Quickly she kissed her and lowered her into the crawlspace. Making sure it was sealed and the rug back in place she closed the closet door and set up the force field to ensure she wouldn’t be detected.

Igniting her saber she extended her senses to get a feel for what was going on. There were two other force users in the building one faint in the force yet familiar and the other extremely strong and completely foreign to her. This night was not going to end well. She heard Huntress yell to her that someone was coming up the elevator. Nope this was definitely not going to end well. Throwing off her robe she mentally prepared herself for a battle.

[Imported_Huntress]

As the building shook she held onto the fall to keep her footing, “what in blazes is going on?” One look out of the window told her it wasn’t their building that had been bombed but something also told her the bomb wasn’t the problem. “Damn it a decoy!” It was exactly what she would have done which meant it wasn’t amateurs and it wasn’t old friends stopping by for breakfast and a chat either. She tried to call up the force field to partition off the floor but someone had disabled all building security. Just when she didn’t think it could get worse she saw the turbolift was moving. “Catherine we’re gonna have company! Someone’s coming up the elevator!” As she turned and ran inside the apartment she muttered “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Catherine ran past her out into the foyer and started sealing the turbolift doors with her lightsaber. Turning she ran back into the apartment and did the same with the front doors of the apartment. Huntress opened the hidden weapons closet and pulled out two more blasters and her vibroblade. “Ariel..?” she asked. Catherine nodded to indicate she had taken care of her. Both of them turned as they heard the sound of lightsabers cutting through the turboshaft doors. Huntress had fought force users before but she preferred to be the attacker not the defender.

[Alealyan Ysulia]

When the turbolift reached Live Wire’s apartment it stopped but the doors didn’t open. Under close examination they could see the metal fused together. “Smart, she used her saber to weld the doors together. But that will only buy her a few minutes.” The men in the elevator ducked as Alealyan ignited her own orange lightsaber and began to cut through the thick doors. Getting the idea Jenniver activated her own red lightsaber and began to cut to meet her. The melted metal glowed red hot as they slowly cut a circle big enough to walk through in the door. Using the force Alealyan pushed it through and it fell with a loud clang on the foyer floor. They stepped out sensing people just inside but found that the front door had been welded shut just like the turboshaft doors. Alealyan was beginning to lose patience and tried to cut through the wall which should have been easier but as soon as her blade started to cut it shut off. “Damn she lined the apartment with cortosis ore.”

As they set to cut through the doors of the apartment she got a tingling in her danger sense and she grabbed Jenniver and dove to the side. Before the other men could react the entire front of the door exploded outwards in a fireball. The one in front had the entire weight of the door slam into him and launch him backwards into the turbolift. Blaster shots rang out and hit the second guy square in the chest. Jenniver was getting angry fast and pushed the third man into the apartment and followed suit firing her blaster in the directions the shots had come. Alealyan stayed low going into the apartment slow and hiding behind the furniture. She fired her blaster down the hallway at the two women and cringed as the third man fell to a well placed blaster shot. “Give it up Live Wire! There’s no escape! Surrender now and we won’t make you watch as we kill your daughter.”

OOC: to the other guys in my thread (ket and ddc) don't post just yet okay I still have some more stuff to post. I'll let you know when.

[Live Wire]

That was the last straw. Catherine could handle a lot; she understood that she had made a lot of enemies in the past, but to threaten her daughter, that was something she would not take. Her lightsaber in hand she leapt out of hiding as Huntress provided cover fire. Jenniver looked shocked for a moment as if she suddenly realized how dangerous it was to piss Live Wire off. Alealyan, on the other hand didn’t seem phased at all. She had prepared her entire life for this one moment and she was ready for it.

Catherine dove at the dark stranger first their blades locked in combat. The quarters were tight but that didn’t stop her from sending a well placed kick at the other woman’s abdomen. Alealyan stumbled backwards but regained composure quickly. She swung furiously at Live Wire but found herself confronted with a powerful wave of force lightning and a fist that came out of nowhere and met with her jaw.

Huntress was having her own problems with Jenniver who was blocking most of her blaster shots. As Alealyan struck at her again their blades locked each trying to out muscle the other. “Who are you?” Live Wire demanded through gritted teeth.

[Alealyan Ysulia]

Her goal had indeed been to anger Live Wire but what she didn't expect was that seeing how angry she got about the threat on her daughters life really made Alealyan all that angry. Years of bitterness and hatred welled up inside her until she felt like she could barely stay in her skin.

As expert a fighter as Live Wire was, Alealyan did not feel threatened by her and when she asked "Who are you?" all she could do was smile at her and say "Someone who hates you!" Using the force she pushed Live Wire away who tumbled backwards over the couch. Running forward she did a flip over the couch to land on the other side and swung at Live Wire who had just managed to get to her feet.

As they fought Alealyan used her mental powers to tap into her opponent and transmit her thoughts........

[Space Pirates]

There was nothing but sheer pleasure on Jenniver's face as she skillfully deflected Huntress' blaster shots. What chance did a pathetic bounty hunter have against a force user? She was forcing her backwards deeper into the apartment and soon she would have her cornered.

It seemed Alealyan was gaining the upper hand against Live Wire so she had nothing to worry about from that front. A well placed shot from Huntress brought a shelf down upon her head but one quick swing of the saber and flex of the hand and it was cleanly chopped in two and pushed aside. Shards of glass lay convieniently on the floor so using the force she made them fly through the air. Huntress was forced to take refuge behind a door. Pulling out her blaster Jenniver moved in for the kill.

[Live Wire]

Catherine began to stagger against the mental invasion and she looked at her opponent with wide eyed horror. What were these pictures in her head? Her body went numb and she fell to her knees. "Wha....." she gasped for air. "Wha...what are you doing to me?" Her hand lost her grip on her lightsaber and it fell to the floor and deactivated. Desperately she tried to bring her hand up and get enough mental strenght to mount some force attack but she found her body sapped of all strength.

Alealyan stood over her smiling and picked up the fallen saber. At first Catherine thought she intended to kill her right then and be done with it but the other woman switched her own saber off and brought out a blaster. With an angry look on her face she raised it level with Catherine's chest. "From now on you'll remember the name Alealyan Ysulia."

The name echoed in her mind and she felt a dart hit her in the chest. Looking down she saw the tranq dart but didn't have the strength to keep from passing out. Just before complete blackness set in there was a moment of clarity and she knew just who she was dealing with and then it was over.

[Imported_Huntress]

Huntress saw Catherine fall to her knees and screamed. With a blaster blazing from each hand she ran forward. Jenniver was forced to take cover but before she could get to her the other woman had already shot Catherine in the chest. From her vantage point Huntress could see it was just a tranq. If they're not trying to kill her what in blazes do they want? The situation was so puzzling.

Just as Catherine passed out she was able to get a blaster shot to hit the woman right in the leg. With a curse she stumbled and turned around raising a regular blaster. Halfway through her roll to the side a blaster shot hit her in the chest and sent her flying into the desk where she hit her head and passed out. Her body went limp as the desk fell on top of her pinning her underneath.

[Ariel Dalamar Mortis]

Little Ariel sat in the tiny dark hole with her hands over her ears. She had felt the sequencer charge blast shake the apartment and was doing her best to shield herself from the sounds of blaster shots above her. She didn't know what was going on but for the first time in her life she was truly frightened.

She tried to reach out through the force and she could feel her mother's own fear and anger. It was that thread she was holding onto when abruptly she lost sense of her mother in the force. Frantically she searched she could sense Huntress' fear escalate for a second before she too went black.

All she could do was sit there frozen in terror. What had happened? Where was her mother? Where was Huntress? She grasped her little lightsaber intending to disobey her orders and go out and fight if need be when the apartment was again rocked by another explosion. In the darkness Ariel began to cry.

[Space Pirates]

The apartment was in shambles but the fight was finally over. Getting on her communicator she sent the ready signal over to the waiting ships. As she picked up Live Wire's limp body the bedroom window exploded inward. "Lets get out of here." Alealyan followed behind limping from the blaster shot in her upper thigh.

One of the ships had moved up close enough for them to jump on board. The ramp had extended right up to the hole blown in the bedroom wall. The two women lept onto the ramp and walked up into the ship. The ramp retracted and the two ships sped away into the dawn.

[DarthDarkCloak]

The explosion rocked everything around him. He knew that it had originated near LW's apartment, and for the first time since he's been on Coruscant, he could actually sense her. She was in danger and she tapped into the force to help defend herself. But there were two more that he sensed. Not as poweful as LW but force adepts nonetheless. Cloak couldn't sit back and watch anymore. This was a time for action. Cloak knew if LW got away from him now, there was a good chance that he wouldn't find her again. He was too close to ruin his search now. But what of the man following him? Could Cloak risk him finding Live Wire. Cloak knew that this was risky, but LW was in danger indeed and sitting back watching may cost her life regardless of who found out where she was. It was decided, this time called for action.</p>

Cloak raced for the entrance to the building. while above LW's apartment was being stormed. He Held his saber infront of him as he ran and with the flick of a thumb it collapsed into two pieces. The dual-bladed saber could be converted into twin sabers, a feature designed for large battles and massacres. By now Cloak could see the small army gathered behind the large glass doors. A group of inept guards armed with blaster rifles never stopped a Sith Master.</p>

As He burst through the lobby doors, the guards wasted no time in opening fire. Cloaks twin emerald blades showed true and cut through the air gracefully and effortlessly. The Crimson blasts met with the blades and deflected off in all directions. Many of the blasts were returned to the men in front of cloak strinking them down. All the while, cloak continued to advance and did not break the stride of the sprint he made towards the elevators. He drew closer to what remained of the guards and he seemed to all of dissapear as his sabers sliced through limb after limb. None survived the bloodbath. The ones that were struck down by their own fire returned to them were lucky. Thier commrades had no such luck.</p>

Overhead LWs apartment was breached and she began to fight. Cloak also sensed a speeder outside of her window. There was no time to waste. The Elevator was stuck on Live Wire's floor and the shaft was sealed. Cloak had to cut into the shaft and then scale it. Halfway up the wall, he could sense LW growing weak and he raged on faster, but as he reached the top and cut through the bottom of the elevator, the speeder was taking off. Cloak sprinted for the window. His heart pounded deep in his chest as the speeder seemed to slowly float away from the window. He was too late, but wait, another and she was alive............</p>

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket had his visor in binocular mode, and had been zommed in to the window of LW's aprtment. He saw Huntress go down, and then LW went limp and fell. She wasnt dead, but in serious trouble. Now was the time for action!

Ket tapped his forearm and the visor went to normal vision mode. then with another tap and the use of augmented muscles combined with the Force, he lept off the building and spread his arms. He lept far indeed, and was only about a hunred meters from the window when he began to decend. tapping his forearm quickly, the rocket boosters roared with life and Ket pointed his arms forward and he hurtled through the window, glass shattering everywhere. He ducked and rolled as the boosters went off line, and stood up, tapping his forearm lightly. The helmet began to collaspse upon itself and stored flatly upon the back of his neck.

Ket looked down and saw Huntress under the desk, and she was limp. He lifted the desk and tossed it aside, lifting Huntess up to a sitting position. He tried to wake her with a shake, but no use. So, reroting a portion of his power from the armour, he gave her a slight shock to jarr her...

"You ok?!"

[DarthDarkCloak]

"She took a blast to the chest and then she hit her head on the desk there", Cloak said from within the shadows. "So how do you feel knowing that every lowlife within three ticks of here knows that you're here? And an even better question is why have you been following me?"</p>

[Imported_Huntress]

Huntress was jolted awake by the shock and seeing the man standing over her, her hand clenched on the blaster still by her side and she smashed it into his head and kicked him off of her. Every muscle in her body was protesting but she’d been shot before. She saw the other man in the apartment and realized by his dress that he must be sith. Getting to her feet she raised her blaster at them. “Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?” If they weren’t friendly there was no way she’d survive a fight with them but even so she wasn’t going down easy.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket reeled back from the unexpected blow to the head. Shaking it off, He got his bearing about him and stood upright, with a grin. He looked to Cloak, and with a low tone, he spoke...

"Well...I had seen you getting off that ship at the docking bay. I recognized you, and I sensed you were looking for someone. I was bored, so I decided to follow you...I had no idea you were looking for an old friend of mine as well."

Ket the looked to Huntress and bowed slghtly, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Allow me to introduce myself...I am Ket Van Derveld. Sith Knight and member of The Sith Order. Chance has brought me here, friends bind me to stay and help."

[Live Wire]

Knives being driven into her temples was the only thing she could think of that would come close to the huge headache she had right then. The whole world was cloudy and everything from her hair to her eyelids were in excruciating pain. Slowly she came to and opened her eyes. Despite being able to see her world was still dark and as the fog began to clear out of her brain she realized why. A ysalimir perched over her head on a nutrient frame was blocking her from the force. “Great…just great.” She was in a small, what appeared to be, storage room. There were some crates stacked in the corner and she was tied up against the far wall.

Trying to survey the room just made the pain in her neck worse so she finally gave up on that. There wasn’t much for her do to but wait until her captors came to see her. They obviously wanted her alive for the moment for some reason but she doubted it was to ransom her…Jenniver’s involvement told her that their end purpose was probably to kill her. She could feel vibrations of the floor underneath her and that told her she was on a ship of some kind. Unfortunately there wasn’t much she could do but wait.

[Imported_Huntress]

Only after hearing him say they were members of TSO did Huntress relax her grip on her blaster. While she knew LW didn’t want to be found even by members of her own former sith group in this situation she knew that there was no way she’d find Catherine on her own. Suddenly she realized in all the commotion she’d forgotten to make sure they hadn’t found Ariel. She ran into the bedroom and flung open the closet door. Once the security code was entered the rug rolled back and the hatch opened. Ariel was huddled in a corner looking terrified when Huntress reached down and pulled her out. She clung to Huntress and looked up at her with teary eyes. “Where’s my mom?”

How do you answer a question like that? Though she knew Ariel wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t already know something had happened. “I don’t know sweetie. But we’ll find her. Don’t worry.” As she walked back into the trashed living area she saw the two sith men discussing how to proceed. “There are two women heading up the operation. One’s a pirate named Jenniver Thiwen and the other is some young woman I’ve never seen before.” She picked up her other fallen blaster and strapped it back on her hip. “I’m going to Catherine’s ship and I’m going to see if I can find where they’re based. I suggest that the two of you try to find the rest of her people. Maybe someone’s still alive downstairs. I’ll be in touch when I find something.” With that she headed towards the emergency turbo lift with Ariel still in her arms.

[DarthDarkCloak]

Cloak remained silent as Huntress spoke. He hated that he didn't make it on time. There was no more room for error, and Cloak knew what had to be done. He looked to Ket with a firey content in his eyes. "I am moving on, I have alot I must do. If you want someone to follow, follow the Huntress. Protect them make sure nothing happens to them. I will come to you at sunset." With that, Cloak returned his saber to it's hilt and his hood to his head and retired to the shadows</p>

[Alealyan Ysulia]

Alealyan sat outside the door of the storage room quietly focusing. As elated as she was there was an anxiety that she hadn't expected. In preparation for this day she had gone over everything she wanted to say and do but now that it was here she was nervous. She had lived with her past hanging over her all of her life but now she had to turn and confront it, confront a woman she hadn't seen since she was a child.

Jenniver was busy making arrangements with her people for holding the sith mistress and Alealyan was glad that finally the hyper pirate had something to busy herself with. Their personalities were vastly different. Jenniver's rage was out in the open. Everyone knew how she felt and sometimes she was a little too impulsive. But Alealyan's anger was inside of her burning at her heart. If anyone looked at her they would say she was cold but it was far from the truth, she was just as passionate as her pirate counterpart but she had learned to control it. Despite their differences their mutual hate had brought them together.

[DarthDarkCloak]

The sun had just begun to rise over the city. Thy sky became littered with the morning commuters. It was an unwelcome site to cloak. It meant he no longer had the cover of darkness to aid him in his ventures. But what he failed to realize was sometimes broad daylight could provide for a better cover. For now, Cloak was off to see Fai'car again. He knew that if anyone could help him along the way, it was Fai'car. However, as he walked, cloak felt something strange. He was being watched, focused on even. It couldn't be Ket, ket was never this obvious. Whomever it was, was concentrating hard. Cloak clutched his saber beneath his robes, and headed for a side alleyway.</p>

It was a dark narrow dead-end alleyway and was perfect for cloak. He shuffled his way in and pinned himself to the wall. With deep concentration on the force, He became near invisible to the eyes of the weakminded. He waited and sure enough a heavily cloaked man entered the alleyway behind him. He was armed with a small blaster, but beneath his cloaks was a large blaster rifle identical to the ones cloak saw earlier that morning. The man walked slowly through the alleyway with his blaster ready looking for any signs of Cloak. As he passed by cloak, who was still pinned to the wall, cloak reached for his saber and struck him with the butt end of the handle. Cloak quickly grabbed him before he could touch the ground, threw him across his shoulder and ran towards the end of the alley.</p>

[Space Pirates]

Len Garyn woke up with a splitting headache and the distinct feeling he was not in a good situation. As his head throbbed he tried to get up only to find he was bound at his hands and feet. His knife, blaster, and communicator were no longer on his person and there was no sight of anyone around him.

He had been tracking someone he saw come out of the apartment building. There hadn't even been time for him to distinguish who it might have been. For all he knew it was one of the tenants trying to find out what the commotion was but he hadn't wanted to take a chance. It looked like he had followed someone that was seriously out of his league.

He struggled to get to a sitting position and saw he was in what looked to be an old abandoned warehouse. That meant he was no longer in the upper levels of Coruscant. This was getting less and less hopefull. In all of the comotion of the kidnapping it was unlikely that Jenniver would notice he was missing until much later.

[Imported_Huntress]

It only took Huntress a moment to realize one of the sith men was following her. Catherine was not going to be happy about this once they got her back. Once they reached The Refuge Huntress quickly prepped it for takeoff. There were a few places she knew to get information but they were not going to be too happy to see her. She wasn't exactly your average mainstream bounty hunter and he ways had made her a few enemies.

Ket made his way on board before the ramp retracted. "Ariel can you sense your mom?" Ariel just shook her head, her mother had disappered from the force all together. Huntress was trying to keep her thoughts positive because she knew the little girl could read her every emotion. But in the back of her mind she was hoping they wanted Catherine bad enough to keep her alive long enough for them to find her.

[DarthDarkCloak]

Indeed Live Wire had dissapeared from the force all together. A sith master such as cloak couldn't make any sign of her. But Cloak didn't need to sense her, because the man that he caught would tell him everything he needed to know.</p>

The room seemed empty, a little too empty. Through the force, Cloak could probe the thoughts of the weak minded, however this man had a strong will. A little more work was required for this information. Cloak knew the inner workings of the mind. He knew that in times of desperation, thoughts race through the brain. We become vulnerable and loose all traces of logic and reason. We in an essence become weak. The pirate, was trapped, seemingly alone in an unfamiliar setting. It wouldn't take long before he lost his will and gave into Cloaks interrogating probe on his mind.</p>

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket followed on board "The Refuge", and took a seat near the controls. He just kinda looked at Huntress, and the kid, and wondered.

"Aren't we supposed to wait for Cloak? He should be coming soon..."

Ket sighed. What had he gotton himself into now...more importantly, what had LW gotton herself into now?

Ket took the time to meditate upon the dark side of the living force. He let his anger and rage all boil and control his emotions as he sought out LW. If anything, she was either dead, or there was a Yslarmi involved. The only two ways you cut someone off from the force, after all. Ket knew LW, and if he did, He knew that she was a strong girl...They'd find her soon enough...he hoped.

[Space Pirates]

Appearances are decieving Len reminded himself. He seemed to be alone but there was this great weight pressing on his mind. He was starting to feel weak and tired. "What do you want!?" He yelled out, his voice echoing on the cold stone walls. "what do you want?" He felt his only hope was for Jenniver to come looking for him...but how would she know where to find him? And now with all his things gone even if he could escape on his own how would he find her?

That question stuck in his mind....how would he find her. He didn't know where she was going he was supposed to be contacted later. Was this what his unknown assailant wanted? Did they want Jenniver? Or maybe that mysterious woman they had been working with? "Is that what you want?" He yelled out. "I don't know where they are!!!" He waited for a moment and felt weight on his mind grow stronger. "I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!!!!!!"

[DarthDarkCloak]

The words echoed through the abandoned building. He spoke the truth and cloak knew it. But this man wasn't all together useless. He was the only lead Cloak had, and he would surely need him. In these time an old man that roams the market couldn't possibly help. But how would this man help Cloak. He already said that he knew nothing. The question was mind boggling. Cloak was becoming increasingly anxious, but he continued to probe hoping to detect something that could help him.</p>