Foundations of Family: Arkanis' Jewel

[Taylor Millard]

Castle Millard

It was nearly daybreak as the two men walked onto the landing pad atop the castle. The largest structure in Bin Prime, Castle Millard gazed over the city like a hawk watching over a forest. Its size was symbolic, reminding the citizens of Balmorra that while Millard didn't rule- like past Millards had- he always watched over them...protecting them from threats in and around their cities.

Today the protection extended from not just the planet itself, but the surrounding space. The Balmorran Empire ruled over several systems, from Balmorra to Bilbringi to Borleais and the Balmorran Military protected it all.

But sometimes family matters had to be taken care of. Past generations coming back to not haunt, but remind Millard who he was. And what family he came from.

"So I take it everything is ready?" the dark haired man asked his companion as they stood on the landing pad staring at the whitish-blue ship before them.

"Yeah, you're all prepped and ready to go. MMU's been ordering the space workers like he's you."

The older of the two smiled, remembering the first time he'd seen the little droid wear his 'Grand Admiral' uniform for 'Papa Taylor'. At the time the two had been desperately searching for the woman the two loved. They'd finally found her and brought her home. And now...they were all family, well...MMU came along with the marriage, but it was true...MMU, Taylor Millard, and Loklorien s'Ilancy were family.

"I'm quite certain he's had fun imitating me, Tomar," Taylor Millard said as he took a drink from his cup of caf. In his other hand he held a handwritten note, delivered to him three weeks prior.

Dear Grand Admiral Millard,

I must congratulate you on your success at fighting your campaign against Tyrel Kiterix. Preserving the history of Balmorra is something to be congratulated for.

Although we do not agree politically, I am writing you to inform you your father's ship has been found.

My group was excavating around the Trade Center and Arca's Training Facility when we stumbled upon an old ship called 'Anne's Red Flame'. The registery while old was under the name Kieron Millard. After some research in the old Jedi Archives we discovered he was your father. Thus I thought it would be best for you to be informed of the discovery.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
Abraham Hamilton, PhD
Professor of Archeology
Firrerre University of Archeology

"And this Hamilton chap is on the level?" Tomar asked as the two turned from the ship back towards the lift back into the castle.

"You should know," Millard came back with a chuckle, "Your wife only did serious checking into his background."

The Balmorran Commodore smiled, as he pressed the button for the lift to return. Indeed, Jaranda Piett-Tomar had checked into Hamilton's history, coming up with hardly anything normal. He'd studied at the University of Coruscant at the end of the New Republic's reign. When the Galactic Military Alliance had retaken Coruscant, Hamilton had taken a teaching job on Mon Calamari teaching archeology, before taking the job on Firrerre after the GMA had become the Empire and subsequently fallen. The professor was on the level and Millard was quite interested in learning what he'd found on Arkania.

"And our other 'situation'?" Millard asked, reducing his speaking voice so only Tomar could hear.

"From what Jaranda said...it's on the level and she's told him all ready. Both objectives should be accomplished."

Millard gave his smile, "Now...I suppose, all we have to do is wait for s'Il to wake up."

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

She was alone in the bed; not an uncommon thing during the morning hours. Not that it disappointed her in any way; she was able to sleep through the morning in peace. It was something she tried to do as often as she could, but sometimes that just wasn't able to happen. But now, she was taking advantage of the situation. She neither knew nor cared what Millard was doing at this point in time. She was sleeping, and that's all that mattered.

Rolling over, s'Il lay on her back, enjoying the softness of the bed she shared with Millard. She kicked the heavy comforter from her legs, preferring the cooler air rather than the warmth provided by the comforter. Staring at the high vaulted ceiling, s'Il let her mind relax, her eyes half-closed as she thought on nothing; letting herself essentially vegetate. She had no plans for the day, except maybe go with Kyry to the Blue Mule; one of the more seedier bars, later in the evening. She entertained the thought of bringing Sasha with them, and decided it might be a good idea for the boy to get out.

A hand went up then, to brush an errant strand of hair from her face, and she let out a breath. Things had been going well; she'd been spending time running over the countryside regularly, working on her tagwing... she'd even found the time to go to Yag'Dhul to have a sub unit built into the underside nose of the King. She'd been busy the last few weeks, to say the least. And so now, presented with a day to herself, she'd made an executive decision. She was going to spend the rest of the day doing, essentially, nothing.

She figured she'd get up from bed in a half an hour, then go for a ride on her bike for a few hours. It'd been a while since she'd been able to ride the thing, and she'd been meaning to.

So now, staring upwards, she rolled to her side, promptly closing her eyes to sleep in just a little more.

[Taylor Millard]

*Tink Tink Tink Tink Tink Tink*

The noise behind Millard and Tomar could only signify one thing. Or person that is.

Both of their suspicions were confirmed when a high pitched voice literally yelled behind them.

"HI! Where're you going??"

"We're off to wake Lok up, MMU...is The King ready?" Millard all ready knew the answer, but decided to ask anyway.

"Uh-huh! Even the sub portion where Lok sets her things- I mean-" if the droid could blush he woulda turned bright crimson. Papa Taylor wasn't supposed to know about what was in the sub portion.

So that's where she keeps it, Millard thought. At some point he would have to talk to s'Il about her drug usage. Although she was free to make her own choice, Taylor preferred her avoid all forms of drugs- unless she were sick. It was just healthier that way.

"Tell you what MMU," Millard said, a smirk on his face as the three entered the lift. He still hadn't looked at the droid and there was a reason. He didn't want to burst out laughing at MMU's Grand Admiral outfit. Tomar, he saw, was all ready laughing behind his eyes.

"Why don't you go wake Lok up. I'm sure she'd enjoy seeing your uniform."

"Oh good! I haven't woken her up in years! I normally leave that up to you, Papa Taylor. After all, you are the one who sleeps with her."

"Among other things," Tomar quipped.

Millard gave his subordinate a sidelong look, "Were you saying something Commodore?"

"No sir," Tomar replied, his eyes still laughing, "Far from it sir."

Millard snorted, "Good. MMU...after you."

The little avatar bounced down the marble hallways, his feet *tacking* as he ran towards Taylor and Lok's room. Maybe afterwards he could cut designs in the sheets. Papa Taylor hadn't been too angry after the last time. He'd only threatened to destroy him twice.

And that was better than three times.

MMU opened the door to Millard and s'Il's room, tiptoeing on the lush red carpet, before scrambling up a footstool and onto the bed. s'Il was laying on her side...almost fast asleep.

Doing his best Millard imitation MMU yelled, "I AM A GRAND ADMIRAL!!! I ORDER YOU TO WAKE UP!! NOW!!!!"

Then he saw the look s'Il gave him as she shot up awake.

"Please...??"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

It'd been a good impression, but not good enough. And as she glared at the little avatar, s'Il couldn't help the frown that creased her features. On her one day off; on the one morning where she allowed herself the liberty of sleeping in, MMU had decided to be a complete nuisance.

"What are you doing in here." It wasn't a question.

Oh, uh... he was running through his processors, searching desperately for an answer. Papa Taylor said I could wake you up. It's all his fault, I swear! he was practically begging at her to not be mad at him. Not that she really could be. The two had been through too much for her to be anything but slightly annoyed and frustrated anytime he did something utterly stupid. And that, he did alot.

s'Il shook her head, reaching out to undue the little buttons of MMU's 'uniform'. "Sweety, take that off; you look too Imperial. I thought you were a smuggler, remember?"

The droid nodded emphatically then, helping her remove the uniform. He'd always been proud of the fact that he was the ship of a smuggler, and often times bragged about the fact. And besides. What would Uncle Silus say about his favorite nephew???!!! Even if Silus was a general in the Balmorran Empire, he might not like MMU outranking him.

The uniform shed, the avatar stood patienly next to s'Il as she lay back once more. He plopped down then, as she closed her eyes once more, and crawling to her side, snuggled up into the crook of her arm.

He'd conveniently forgotten to let her know he'd accidentally told Papa Taylor about how she kept her 'things' in the submersible unit.

[Taylor Millard]

"Well," Tomar said from the doorway, "That worked out well..."

He was enjoying needling Millard about this. It wasn't often he caught Taylor in a majorly good mood. This was one of those days. Millard was looking forward to seeing the ship, Tomar could tell.

Taylor ignored Tomar's comment, walking into the bedroom.

"Let's go s'Il, you can sleep on the King. We've got a day journey in front of us. Professor Hamilton at Firrerre University said he discovered my father's ship on Arkania. Let's go pick it up."

He walked over to the bed, giving her a light shake on the shoulder, his blue eyes noticing MMU's lack of his Imperial Uniform.

Figures

"Let's go...The King is all ready."

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

"The King may be ready, but I am not; nor do I plan on being ready for for another five hours."

She opened one eye, looking up at Millard as he towered over her. "Taylor, this is my first day off, and I'd like to spend it very much asleep. Why do you always choose these days to drag me out to follow you wherever it is your fancy strikes?"

She caught the look he gave her at her last words, opening her other eye. "Look. Sweety. I'm glad your old man's ship was found, but really. Do you honestly need me to go with you?"

Before he could answer however, she promptly rolled over. "That's right, you don't. I'm glad we had this little chat, and it's nice to see you agreeing with me for once.

"Now.

"I'm going back to bed."

[Taylor Millard]

"I find it interesting," Millard stood at the foot of the bed, a smirk on his face. He'd known Lok would act like this, she always preferred sleeping in when she didn't need to wake up early. Which was never.

A sip from his black caf cup, the one s'Il'd given him two years ago. It read, in bold purple letters, 'I joined the Empre at age 19 and all I got was this stupid cup...and my own planet.'

"You might want to go back to sleep, however, wouldn't the Jewel of Arkanis interest you? They have it on display on Arkania. I thought we might go see it."

Another sip of his cup, "Interested?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

A muffled mumble that went along the lines of 'I don't care what it is, I ain't getting out of bed right now so if you want me to go with you, you're gonna have to drag me out yourself' was all that answered him from the depths of the pillow she'd buried her face in, and remaining motionless, s'Il refused to move.

As if to reinforce her resolve, she pulled the covers over her, burying herself comfortably.

[Taylor Millard]

Millard shook his head. It was almost always like this...s'Il never wanted to go anywhere, unless he dragged her there, then she has a blast, and gets herself into trouble.

Taylor walked over to the bed, gathering the covers in his arms and lifted, throwing the blanket-encases s'Il over his shoulder.

"You can sleep on The King," he said, a smile on his face, "But right now, we need to go ahead and leave. I'm not sure how long the archeologist will wait for us."

He walked out the door, nodding to the soliders standing next to him. The Balmorran Grand Admiral could swear he saw smiled beneath their stormtrooper helmets.

"Let's go."

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

Resigned to her fate, s'Il simply let Taylor carry her through the castle, and hanging limp from his shoulder, she did her best to doze. It was hard, as his shoulder wasn't exactly the most comfortable of perches, but she made do; she'd done it plenty of times.

She grumbled the whole way though, complaining about his aptitude for picking the worst times to do things, and how he never let her sleep in when she wanted to. Of course it was only to hear herself complain, but she still didn't care.

As they entered the lift, she extricated an arm from the blankets to pound it grudgingly against his back.

[Taylor Millard]

"You know," Taylor said, feeling her pound on his left shoulder blade. It didn't hurt, thankfully, and actuallly felt better than he thought it would.

"The King's bed is rather comfortable. I know you wanted a day off, but this couldn't wait, at all. And you will still get to sleep...it is a 12 hour flight to Arkania."

Her pounding on his back didn't cease.

"You'll still get to sleep in, and who knows...I just might join you for parts of it."

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

Her fist hit his back methodically; like clockwork... every 5 seconds. She didn't care if her bed on the King was comfortable. It was the fact of the matter that Millard had removed her from an already accessible bed and was now carting her like a sack of potatos through the castle. She was silent as she hit him, resorting to grumbling under her breath, and with a look to Tomar, who was standing off to the side, she gave him quite possibly the evillest stare imaginable as if to say, This is all your fault. All of it.

"I hate you," she snapped finally, giving Millard's back one last pound for good measure.

[Taylor Millard]

"No," Millard said resolutely, as he continued to carry her, "You don't. If I recall correctly you always enjoy our little jaunts. The last time you found a rather delightful sword from Cathar...this time who knows-"

She interupted him then with another punch tot he back, this was enough to actually hurt a bit. His breath almost came out in a quick breath, but Millard held it in...slowly releasing it lightly.

"That, my dear Loklorien," his face was slightly sterner but still held a hint of humor, "Was rather naughty."

The trio (Millard, s'Il on his back, and Tomar) reached the rooftop landing pad, then walked towards The King. MMU still scampered under Taylor's feet, screaming something about wanting a piggy back ride and begging Millard and s'Il to give him one when they reached the ship.

Taylor, s'Il, and MMU all walked into the ship (save for s'Il who was still on Millard's back), then s'Il was depositted onto her bed.

Millard turned, walking back to the entrance ramp and shook Tomar's hand.

"Good luck sir," Tomar said, smiling, "I'll make sure the Empire doesn't fall while you're away...and we'll have that other situation taken care of by the time you return."

Taylor smiled, saluted then returned to The King.

"MMU," he said walking towards the cockpit, "Let's go."

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

When he'd left, s'Il had slid from her bed, padding sullenly to the door, and opening it, she stuck her head out into the deserted hall. Satisfied that no one was around, she stepped out. Sulking through the coridors of her ship, she felt as the large craft lifted from its landing struts. With a sigh, she cursed under her breath. Of course nothing would save her now, and running stray fingers along the bulkhead, she took satisfaction in the fact that MMU most likely knew she was walking through his halls. His internals were sensitive when it came to his insides.

Making her way to her office, she strode through the open door, shutting the door and locking it behind her; simply out of spite. Heading for her desk, she skirted around it to lower her frame in the soft leather of the chair.

[Taylor Millard]

"Oooo you're in twubble...." MMU's squeaky voice was just smirking at Millard as the Rascal King lifted from the landing pad.

"Let me guess," Taylor pressed a few buttons, sending the ship towards space. There was a slight pause in the conversation, while Millard gave the proper clearance codes to exit Balmorra space.

"s'Il's locked herself somewhere."

MMU nodded excitedly, "Uh huh! Papa Taylor isn't going to be able to declare his love for her, now!"

"At least not yet, MMU," Millard retorted as the computer plotted the course to Arkania.

They did have 12 hours before arriving at Arkania and Millard was almost certain s'Il wouldn't ignore him for all of the journey. Well...atleast 4 hours of it.

As The Rascal King jumped into hyperspace, Millard walked back towards the main seating area, where the piano was located.

Sitting down...he slowly started to play.

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

Rummaging through her desk drawers, 'Il pulled open the bottom drawer, reaching her hand up inside. Out of mere habit she felt for the secret compartment that housed her black case. Finges curling around the familiar black surface, she pulled the case out and set it on the desk, staring at it. Her fingers flipped open the clasp, and opening it up, she lshe sighed. Empty. The vials of silvery laced white liquid gone; in there place a simple note in Millard's handwriting:

Illegal substances are not allowed; either in my household or on my planet. Love, T.

s'Il closed the case while rolling her eyes, and leaving it on the desk, leaned back to prop her feet on the desktop, promplty dozing off.

[Taylor Millard]

The music started filtering throughout the Rascal King, a bit unsteady...Millard hadn't played in a few months. Tirmok's Movements in G, a soft, flowing piece, was one of Millard's favorites. It would be years before Millard started playing his own pieces, but for now he enjoyed playing (and listening) to pieces done by other artists.

By now, s'Il had discovered his little note of his in her Liquid Silver case. It was one of 4 notes left in various places where Millard found the drug. A part of it was for s'Il's own protection, she'd ODed atleast once while dating Millard...and while it was because her life in danger...the Balmorran Grand Admiral took no chances, the drugs were removed and destroyed.

A minor smile came to his face as he thought of s'Il finding the note...if she were tired enough she'd probably say nothing but fall asleep. If they wasn't, she'd probably come storming out at some point arguing with him for going onto her ship. Of course...it was MMU who told him where the drugs were.

Taylor kept playing, enjoying the music as he listened to it. The trip would be a wonderful thing...Millard was fairly certain of this.

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

Bare feet propped up on her desk, s'Il drifted in and out of sleep. Eyes opening every now and then, she let her gaze rest lazily on the patterns in the wood of the desktop, and with an idle hand, scratched an invisible itch on the underside of her jaw. Her leg muscles tensed then, and she kicked her feet down to rest on the floor, and leaning forward, used the momentum to rise.

Sweeping her eyes across the office, she called up a mental map of all the places she'd stashed her drug, and out of curiosity began to scout out each one.

Ten minutes later, and after a particular vicious string of cursing, she stood in the middle of her office, an annoyed and frustrated expression blanketing her features. Millard had rooted out each and every one of the hiding spots, leaving simple notes in each black case. It was aggravating that she had to keep either stealing the vials back or simply buy a whole new shipment. An expensive vice, it was starting to get old; and costly. Which only meant that better hiding spots had to be used.

With a sigh, she headed for the door, intent on once more going to bed, and stepping out into the hallway, began the trek to her room.

[Taylor Millard]

"Good morning," Millard had finished playing about fifteen minutes prior and sat in a wooden chair next to s'Il's office.

"I see you couldn't find yourself comfortable in your own office," he looked at her hands, seeing the crumpled notes in them.

"And you've found the notes as well. If you're interested at how I discovered the drugs, I can certainly tell you."

He stood up, starting to follow her as she walked towards her room.

"Care to find out?" his face held a small smile, as he spoke in s'Il's ear.

MMU poked his head out from a corner a look of, "I'm in trouble," on his face.

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

She had a pretty good idea how Millard had found out about her little stashes, but chose not to say anything. His voice so close to her ear was a little startling; he tended to do that from time to time, but she managed to not let it show. Instead she simply let her head drop to the side and back a little, looking at hims with a tired, annoyed sidelong glare.

"Not particularly, no."

And as an afterthought added, "-and if you think that by telling me is going to help your odds of finding out how I keep ending up with more regardless of where I am, then you're dreaming. I don't share information like that."

[Taylor Millard]

"Oh of course not," Millard replied, "Rhisa Meier is an excellent source of drugs and other sorts of information. Jaranda has used her for information before. She's quite informative...especially about the New Republic."

He followed her into her room, a place he still considered her room at times...since his time on The King was still limited, and sat on the bed, crossing his legs.

"How was your trip? Did you have fun?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

She pushed past him, ignoring his questin and almost literally diving into the pillow. With a searching hand, she grasped the covers and began to pull them over her body, offering only a muffled answer.

"Yeah... Rhisa. She's a great gal."

Of course s'Il neglected to mention that she'd been getting her deliveries from someone else; Rhisa had agreed to stop being her supplier for the exact reason that Millard kept tabs on her at times, and both wmoen felt it best if their business relationship was discarded indefinately. The two still remained good friends, but agreed to stay on a more personal level from now on.

Her nose picked up his scent on the pillows; she smelled it every time she slept in her own bed, gathering that he'd slept here when he was looking for her, and had assimilated her sheets into his inadvertantly. Turning away from Millard, s'Il curled up on one side of the bed, her eyes half-closed as she let herself relax.

[Taylor Millard]

"Well," Taylor picked up on s'Il's ignoring of his question on how her trip was, "I hope you don't mind if I spend some time here with you."

Slowly, he removed his shoes and socks then lay down on the bed. His body literally fell into the soft mattress, sinking into the deep comfort. If there was one thing he loved about The King it was the mattress and the comfort of it.

His slowly closed and Millard breathed deeply, pulling some of the sheets to cover his body.

"You know," he quipped, "I do like some of the sheets too."

A few minutes of silence, "Anything you'd like to do on Arkania?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

Her stare was almost vacant, unfocused as she stared at the opposite wall, and his little comment on needing sheets was met with half the comforter dropped on his face. "Here."

Her voice was distant as well, and she couldn't help the feeling of listlessness as it descended into her thoughts and functions. She honestly didn't know what she would do on Arkania; she'd had no real desire to visit the planet, and now that she'd been dragged out of bed to spend however long Millard wanted, it seemed she'd be stuck on the planet for a while.

She'd figure something out, and most likely Millard wouldn't like it; but of course she never really cared. Still buried, she only mumbled an answer, and even then it was along the lines of 'I'm going to go fishing and drink myself dangerously stupid all by myself.'

Which honestly, as she listened to her garbled answer, didn't sound half bad.

[Taylor Millard]

"So you won't be coming with me to see the ship then? I might need The King to help me tow it out," Millard replied, removing the black comforter from his face.

He closed his eyes lightly, not falling asleep but only enjoying the darkness around him.

He'd expected s'Il to not like getting pulled out of bed...plus she always threatened to go fishing and drink herself until she either A) passed out from the alcohol or B) was found beating up a vagrant who tried to either hit on her or take her to bed.

However, Taylor only paid her bail once...the other few times a 'technicallity' prevented s'Il from getting arrested. That was mainly some upper eschelon official recognizing the last name 'Millard' and released s'Il on sight.

Taylor still chuckled at some of the events. It was rather humorous after all. Well in his mind atleast.

A sudden thought struck him, "s'Il...Arkania doesn't have any lakes. Only diamond mines and a few rivers. How are you going to fish then?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

"Then why do jellyfish live on the planet, Brainiac? They certainly don't fly around. They're called jellyfish for a reason."

Her answer this time was crisp as she rolled over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling, and reaching over, punched him in the arm.

[Taylor Millard]

"I said lakes, s'Il, not seas," Millard gave a small smile as s'Il's hand hit his shoulder.

"Besides, you'd have to charter a boat, rent gear, then go out into the middle of the sea and wait for whatever kind of fish you'd find. Unless, of course, you have another way of catching fish?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

"Thermal detonators worked fine last time I went fishing, they'll work just fine this time," she countered without missing a beat. Of course she neglected to mention the near chaos that ensued when she and MMU dared eachother to literally blow the fish out of the water back on Balmorra as the two had gone out fishing on the Balmorran Sea.

And that... was the end of the matter. In her mind he had no way of convincing her otherwise, and just his mentioning the fact that she had no boat or gear strengthened her resolve that much more. She'd go fishing and drink as much as she wanted no matter what he said.

[Taylor Millard]

"Like I said," Millard continued, not caring if s'Il listened or not, "It's going to be rather difficult for you to fish. You will probably need permits to fish on Arkania...especially if you're going to use thermal detonators."

A bit of silence as Taylor and s'Il breathed in and out deeply.

"I'm surprised you don't want to see the artwork in the museums or the diamond mines. It's certainly something to consider after all. I won't stop you from bringing home more than a few treasures."

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

It was cute that he tried to bribe her to accompany him with the fact that he would flat out let her steal whatever she wanted from Arkania. Cute, but not quite cute enough.

"I don't need to steal anything with your consent, thanks. If I want it, I'll get it. And as far as diamonds, I only do that every now and then if the money is good enough."

More and more of her wanted to go spend a day out on the water, and something at the back of her mind tugged at her; something that had to do with the few bodies of water on Arkania. With a shrug however, she let the thought go. Most likely if she dwelled on it with Millard around, he'd try to get it out of her, and aat the moment, she was too lazy to try and argue with him about why she didn't feel like sharing information with him.

And so, turning her body, she began doing her best to push Millard off the other side of the bed with her feet. "If all you're going to do is squash my dreams of fishing, then you can go sleep on the floor."

[Taylor Millard]

Millard snorted.

"I was simply pointing out your fishing might have to wait because of the lack of lakes and seas. That's all."

s'Il's feet kept trying to push him off the bed. Millard dead-weighted himself, making it almost impossible, but after about three minutes of pushing, he rose from the bed.

"I've got a few reports to do for the Empire," he said quietly, picking up the cup of cafe (thankfully still warm). He sipped it, kept from wincing at the flavor (he needed a new cup of cafe), then started for the door.

"I will return later. Sorry...I kept you from sleeping late."

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

With his body suddenly gone from the bed, s'Il sat up suddenly, watching him as he took his cup and sipped from it, her brows raising at the look on his face as he swallowed. Shrugging inwardly, she moved back to where she'd been laying previously.

"Fine; have fun writing."

And with that, promptly turned over and fell asleep; alone once more in her bed. Her very own bed.

[Taylor Millard]

The Rascal King was silent as Millard walked barefooted through the lightened halls. MMU obviously found something to keep his attention for more than 10 minutes and Millard enjoyed the silence.

His father's ship.

He hadn't seen it in quite some time. Not since before he left Balmorra for the Imperial Flight Academy. It was always a debate in his mind, did he consider his father dead before Millard left for the Empire, or after when he was informed of his death?

To a degree it was a little of both.

Kieron and Taylor Millard had argued vehemently, the night before the latter's departure for Coruscant about Palpatine and the Empire. Millard stood on the grounds that, although was slowly making the Galactic Senate a figurehead entity, the consolodation of power wasn't a bad thing. Palpatine was a political hero, leading the Republic against the Geonosis forces. If he saw it easier to defend the galaxy by drawing power on himself, then it was his business.

Kieron disagreed. The Jedi were the protectors of the Republic, they defended her against the Geonosis Forces and against other threats, even Taylor didn't know about. Keeping the Senate was a sacred right of the Republic...they might be slow about getting thigs done, but they did get things done.

Taylor argued about the corruptability of the Senators. If they got things done, how come the last resolution was the one giving Palpatine military measures and there hadn't been one resolution people had cheered since. The times were changing and maybe, under Palpatine and Darth Vader- this Galactic Empire would do better than the Republic had.

Millard certainly agreed with them, also sighting how the Jedi had failed to protect his own mother and brother, and stormed out of Kieron's home. The next day he was off to Coruscant, applying into the Imperial Academy.

Three days later, his father died on Arkania; killed by Darth Vader.

A week after Millard originally left Balmorra, he returned to bury his father's remains. He never found out who'd told Vader where Kieron was, it hadn't been him that was sure. Even if the two disagreed over the Empire, it wasn't enough for Millard to betray his father.

So now Millard sat at s'Il's desk in the Rascal King's office, pondering what finding his father's old ship might mean. And as he thought, his paperwork forgotten, he lightly dozed in the chair...then fell asleep.

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

On and off for at least two hours. s'Il drifted in and out; not in restlessness, but simply because for some reason she missed having that second body to be beside. And she didn't realize this until hour three had passed by. The ship itself was quiet; MMU more than likely going through his internal systems and challenging himself to deathmatch bouts of chess. It was something she'd always suggested he do on long trips... kept him quiet for the most part, and her sane.

So, unable to sleep anymore, s'Il slid from the bed to pad to her dresser. Pulling on an old pair of jeans and an equally old shirt, she headed for the door, stepping out into the corridor. She had no idea where Millard was, and at this point in time, knew that bothering him would only disturb what she though was important paperwork concerning running an empire's military. Lord knew he took the job seriously; hell, she'd been on the recieving end of it plenty of times before... had glared at him through bars on more than one occasion.

And so she let him be. He did what he did. She did what she did.

Striding through the halls, she made her way the short distance to what Kyry's old room had been; since converted into a library of sorts. Teeming with datapads, she suspected that what she was looking for would be buried somewhere in there. Something had been in the back of her mind since she found out that they were going.

Something had been nagging her.

Something about Arkania.

[Taylor Millard]

One of the books she was looking for was in her office. Millard had pilfered it earlier, since he'd decided it to decide where exactly the dead Jedi Master Arca's base was. It was probably the best place for the King to land after all.

Millard'd put his thoughts into thinking where his father might land. Arca's appeared to be the best place...but he just had to figure out where it was.

Hamilton hadn't given him coordinates yet, he said he would when Millard arrived. If he could make sure the coordinates were right with the book he had...then Millard could discover if Hamilton was lying or not.

But Millard wasn't thinking this as he slept. Instead...he saw nothing but darkness. He had no dreams.

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

One of the few books she had on history was gone, and she suspected Millard had taken it; it was on Arkania after all. But what she was looking for wasn't in any book. It was on a datapad that contained random information she'd acquired on the planet, all compiled together for easy access.

Digging under what'd been Kyry's bed, she pulled out a box, and dusting it off, let her eyes go over the bold red words that read DUDS, lifted the lid...

... to expose a stash of some of her sister's home-made explosives. s'Il frowned, lifting one of the modified thermal detonators out, and thumbing the switch, nearly jumped out of her skin when the thing blinked to life, humming a countdown.

And that's when common sense abandoned her, and in a panic reached under the bed once more to pull out another box, this one saying INSULATORS, and tearing the lid off, shoved the detonator into the case, buring it in insulation materials. Scrambling to her feet, she grabbed the box and hauled it up onto Kyry's old workbench, and grasping at a bolt puncher, proceeded to bolt the lid down onto the box.

All of this had taken about ten seconds to transpire, and she knew she didn't have much more time.

s'Il dropped the bolt gun then, and snatching the box from the desk, jumped for the door. It opened, and she threw it out into the hall before ducking back inside. Just as the door closed, a muffled explosion rang out, and s'Il could feel parts of her ship shake in reaction.

Freakin' Kyry.

[Taylor Millard]

The explosion woke Millard up, sending him out the door in a flash, his blaster drawn. His mind was clear though and his senses alert.

He saw a smoking container laying about 10 feet away, the edges melted, but it was mostly intact. Insulation material, some still smoking, littered the hallways.

Then...the sprinklers kicked on.

Millard shook his head, holstering his blaster.

"s'Il?" he called as he walked down the wet hall, "Everything all right?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

Live. Every single damn one of them. They were all live. And as such, s'Il was in a near fit of rage. Her sister had left live explosives just sitting under her bed?! This was just too much. She was getting rid of these things now.

As an afterthought she reached back under the bed, emerging with another box that read MINES - LIVE.

Now she had a fit, and in a complete rage, picked the box up and flung it out the door. The box skidded out into the hall, coming to a slow stop right in front of Millard, the top jarring loose and coming away to expose a jumble of mobile infantry mines.

[Taylor Millard]

"Interesting," Millard said, somehow keeping himself from jumping away from the mines as they spilled out onto the floor.

"I knew you wanted to be left alone, s'Il...I just didn't know how alone you meant. Mining your hallway...that's not very nice. What if I were to step on one?"

He picked up the top.

"Is there anyway to disarm these?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

She huffed out the door, too angry at her own sister to really pay any attention to what Millard had said. In her arms was the box of detonators. She knelt down to set it atop the box of mines, and picking both boxes of quite live explosives up in her arms, looked up at Millard as if seeing him for the first time.

"I've got it all under control," was all that she could think to say.

[Taylor Millard]

"I'm sure you do," Taylor replied, a bit amused by the situation. Water from the King's sprinklers rained down upon them, beginning to soak the two.

He crossed his arms and stepped aside.

"Need me to take one of those boxes? They look a bit heavy."

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

"No I got 'em; situation's under control."

And off she marched, carting live explosives in her arms, heading for the cargo bay.

[Taylor Millard]

"MMU," Millard didn't bother talking into a comlink because he knew the system could hear him, "Turn off the sprinkler system...there's no fire."

The little avatar poked his head out from behind a corner. Millard found himself barely able to control his laughter. The droid was wearing a bright yellow rain slicker and hat, and in his hand was a large umbrella.

Aww...I was gonna SING!

Millard gave him a stare, "MMU..."

The droid saluted, Yes sir, Papa Taylor, sir!

The sprinklers turned off.

"Thank you," then Millard hurried after s'Il, who'd just entered the main hall towards the bay.

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

In a strange way, carting the cases of live munitions took her back to the old day; back when it was just s'Il and Kyry... back when the two had no one to depend on but each other... back when things weren't so complicated. Striding by the modified rover she and Kyry had spent a year putting together, s'Il slowed to a stop, looking at the dirty yellow body; the still mud-caked tires; the well-worn look of the vehicle. She stared at the vehicle before contiuning on once more.

[Taylor Millard]

Millard kept following s'Il, hoping to catch up with her before she did anything crazy with the explosives. Of course...if she were to just throw them into an airlock and eject them into hyperspace, it'd make almost complete sense to him.

But somehow, Taylor had a feeling it wasn't going to be this simple.

He looked at MMU as they hurried through the hangar.

"Does this happen often?"

MMU just shrugged and started playing with his umbrella. Then the sprinklers turned on again.

Millard shook his head and hurried after s'Il.

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

She'd dumped the crates next to the main cargo door, intent on getting rid of the things later. Procrastination was often paramount to most things.

She was shuffling back the way she'd come, head down and hands stuffed into her pockets when the sound of clipped bootfalls reached her ears.

"I'll get rid of them later," was all she said.

[Taylor Millard]

"Later as in when?" Millard questioned as s'Il walked up to him.

He loved her but sometimes, Taylor wondered about s'Il's sanity.

"Before they explode or afterwards? Oh and be careful when you make it back to the main cabin..."

The Grand Admiral had a bit of an amused look, but it was more of minor incredulousness.

"MMU has decided to 'sing in the rain' while the sprinklers are going off. I suppose he does this all the time?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"He only started doing that today. Usually things like this don't happen."

Walking past the rover, s'Il kicked absently at the thick tire before yelling, "Turn those damn things off and get yourself dry!!!"

And two seconds later, the sprinklers promptly shut off; no sound heard from the little avatar whatsoever.

[Taylor Millard]

"Then," Millard replied, happy the sprinklers shut off, "What does normally happen? The live explosives explode while the ship is docked somewhere?"

s'Il had started walking back down the corridor, Millard following. A brief check of his watch said they were to come out of hyperspace in about fifteen minutes.

"And I'd always been interested in that rover. Where'd it come from?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

She stopped, turning to look at the vehicle. Others in various states of disrepair and design littered the deck around it, but the one he stood beside was in pristine condition, its yellow paint still as fresh as the day she and her sister had painted it.

"That?" She started toward him, eyes wandering over the body style. "Kyry and I built it a long time ago; used to race it against rally speeders. We dropped a modified snowspeeder engine into it, then tricked out the tranny to compensate for the increased power. The clutch is beefed up too."

[Taylor Millard]

"Mm," Millard gave it a critical eye. He'd always had a bit of interest in speeders but never at racing them. He preferred silent power to the overly-loud kind

"I was always a fan of supercharged speeders myself. But of course you knew that, given you've been in my speeder more than a few times.

"Why haven't you used it recently?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

s'Il stopped beside him, then moved to the side of the vehicle, tapping the oversized mud tires with her fingers.

"I don't know; no real reason to, really. Not that I've found the time to play with it anyways."

For nostalgia's sake, she hoisted herself up, hitting the catch-release for the canopy, and it slid open easily, stopping with a mechanical ka-chunk. Revealed inside was a tech's dream; a pilot's wonderland. The entire interior was set up like a fighter, with buttons and switches lining the driver's and passenger's seats. The shifter was nestled neatly between the seats, sleek and entirely black, the whole inside gave one the impression of being in a war machine. The seats themselves were black leather, and running a finger along the driver's side headrest, s'Il grinned.

"It took about a year and a half to build this thing."

[Taylor Millard]

"I can see why," Millard commented, leaning forward to investigate the interior. His nostrils flared as he inhaled in leather, dust, and a bit of oil.

The cockpit reminded him of the Missile Boat a bit, although the leather looked a bit more comfortable than the fighter's cockpit was. And it was a two-seater.

"You've been on the plains of Balmorra before, you know about the immenseness of it. Why did you never bring it out there? You have plenty of time to play there I would think."

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

A shrug. "I don't know; never occured to me. If you really want to, I'll take you out on Arkania, open her up and show you how fast she can go."

Hopping up, s'Il slid easily into the driver's seat. Her hands ran over the steering wheel, and she let her fingers fall to the keypad by her leg. Punching in a code, she let the sequence travel through the vehicle's computer, and after a few seconds it rumbled to life; the initial start-up of the engine dying into a purring idle. It was deceptive.

"Well, at least it still starts," was all she said, beginning to run a system's check. It'd been a long time since the rover had been used.

[Taylor Millard]

"That sounds like a plan," Millard listened to the engine start, then turned to walk back towards the main hull of The King.

"We should be near Arkania soon," he said crisply, as the sounds of his boots echoed on the hangar bay floor, "I think our professor might want to meet us before showing us the site where my father's ship is.

He stopped, looking back at s'Il in her speeder, "I'm all for us taking your buggy. The stretch speeders can get quite stuffy after a while."

Millard looked at the yellow speeder with interest, "How smooth is the ride?"

[Lok s'Ilancy-Millard]

'Buggy.'

She looked at him as if he was crazy. "It's smooth enough, and it's not a buggy. It a rover (http://www.boomspeed.com/loklorien/Rover-3.jpg). I swear," she went on, punchin in the shutdown code before climbing out as the engine died, "I don't know where you get your concept of what a vehicle is supposed to be called."

Hopping to the deck, she made her way to Millard, giving him a disgruntled glare.

"It's not a buggy."

[Taylor Millard]

"Mm," Millard nodded, staring at the rover. It looked like a buggy to him. One of his instructors at the Imperial Academy, during the one class he took on ground warfare as an elective, showed demonstrations of ground combat.

"One reason why we use the walker is it provides stable firing position from an airial stance. We do not use buggies, because they are too close to the ground."

The instructor had died four weeks later when the walker he was travelling in was destroyed, when the left left buckled.

Millard's eyes darkened a bit as he looked at the newly-named rover.

"What would it take for me to get design specifications on it? Perhaps give it to Labs for a viewing.

"I would be quite interested in adding it to Balmorra's Army."