The Little Things

[Lady DeVille]

*She absentmindedly allowed the baby to grab her finger and pull it into her mouth. De'Ville smiled, then remembered herself, and pulled her finger back.* We have to find a family of some kind for this little one. Being an orphan is not the life I would wish on anyone. And orphanages especially... *She shuddered, and changed the subject.*

So now we wait? Where is the child to sleep? The med bay?

[Live Wire]

*LW turned to LD in surprise*

What do you mean find a family for her? TSO is her family. I'll be damned if I'm going to turn a child with this kind of force potential over to anyone else. I found her and I'm responsible for her.

*LW turned back to the computer and she could feel LD looking at her*

[Lady DeVille]

*De'Ville turned on Live Wire, speaking in low tones, but harshly.* If she has a family I will see that they are reunited. It is not a small thing to have no ties to your own past. It would be their choice to give her up or not.

*She paused, thinking* Of course, as ever, you do have a point. Such potential should not be allowed to be wasted. *She looked up* Why were you looking for her mother in the first place? Why not just take her and never think of it again?

[Live Wire]

*LW turned to LD a harsh cold creeping into her eyes*

I know what it's like to have no past. No family. No one who gives a damn about you. I'm not letting that happen to this baby. She stays here at TSO and thats final. Right now it's my choice to make.

*LW took a deep breath and decided she should think before saying anything else*

I'm not looking for her mother. I'm looking for information on our mysterious dead woman. I don't even know if she was the baby's mother. Right now I just want to know who killed her and my contact and why they tried to kill me. If we find anything on this babys family then thats just side information. Got it?

[Jeseth Cloak]

;; Places his hand over the baby's head and pets it hesitantly. ;;

"I've never seen one of these before... It's a little odd. You know if you need a place for it to sleep, I won't mind it staying with me for a while."

;; Lets the baby hold on to his finger. ;;

[Live Wire]

*smiles*

Thanks for the offer Jeseth but the baby needs to be with someone who knows what they are doing.

*LV gave her a look that said "and what do you know about babies?" but LW just ignored it*

The baby will stay with me and I don't want to hear an.....

*LW was interrupted by the sound of the computer beeping. Turning back to the console she saw that it had managed to decrypt one file*

Hmm looks like we are actually getting somewhere.

*LW called up the file on the computer screen and everyone gathered around to read it*


Marla L'roche

Age: 32
Birthplace: Coruscant
History: Parents - Tyne and Oran L'roche (deceased) Orphaned at age 9. Adopted by Luna Pol of Correllia.
Present Whereabouts: Unknown
Last Known Whereabouts Dagobah

*somehow they had all been hoping for more information to go on*

I hope the next two files give us more leads then that.

LV: Dagobah.....that pretty much confirms that she was a force user.

LD: Not necessairily.

LV: Well its not like there is anything of importance on Dagobah. Just jedi.

[Lady Vader]

*Lady Vader looked down at the child. It was obviously force sensitive and with this new information it was looking more and more like this woman could be the childs mother. Shaking her head she tried to fit this new information into the puzzle. It just didn't feel right to her somehow*

*She stared at the computer screen for a moment...thinking*

LV: Most records are no where near this bare. I think someone did some cleaning up before we got here.

LW: Like who?

LV: I don't know. Could have been anyone. We don't even know when it happened. The details could have been purged several years ago.

LW: Thats not a comforting thought. I suppose I could always call in a few favors and see what I can find out. If she was affiliated with any jedi then someone out there has to have heared of her.

LV: It seems that way.

*LV looked down at the child as if she held all the answers they were looking for. LV could feel the babys force potential, the force was strong with her and yet...somehow familiar. Whoever this child belonged to, her parents had been powerful*

[Live Wire]

*The next two files flashed on the screen as being decrypted.*

LW: Good maybe now we will get some answers.

*LW called up the two files and found them full of nothing but gibberish*

LV: What the?

LW: Looks like someone corrupted them.

*suddenly the computer beeped an warning and shut off. When they restarted the system all three of the files were gone.*

LD: I have a bad feeling about this.

LW: This is very strange. Looks like Im going to have to get information on this woman the old fashioned way. Ask.

LV: That's going to take time

LW: Yeah I know. I guess I should make a few calls and see what I can find. Thanks for your help guys.

*LW took the baby from LV and and started to head to her room.*

LV: Let me know if you need anything.

LW: I will.

*LW left the room and headed down the palace corridors.*

[Lord Dagger]

:: Dagger appears in the corridor as LW leaves the room. He bows low and then smiles at the child ::
"Come" LW motions for him to follow "I need to speak to you, privatly"
:: Dagger bows once more ::
"I am yours to command my lady"
:: Dagger and LW head back to her room, once inside Dagger reaches out with the Force, stopping any form of spying on the room ::
"Now my Lady, what would you speak to me of"
:: Dagger looks at the child ::
"As if i couldn't guess"

[Jeseth Cloak]

;; Looks at LD & LV and shrugs. ;;

"Well... I'll ask around. I have some contacts, but I don't know if I'll find anything. it;s worth a try either way."

[Live Wire]

*LW motions for dagger to sit and he pulls the chair from the desk over. LW sits on the bed the baby still in her arms. She smiles slightly at dagger. He was one of her most trusted friends, she had entrusted her life to him and had the utmost confidence in his character*

LW: Well I should probably appologize for not taking you with me on my little excursion. I know how you feel about being left behind.

*Dagger nodded slightly. LW knew how seriously he took his duty to protect her. LW quickly gave him a synopsis of what she had told the others. About the fight and the death of her contact and the woman.*

Dagger: So you believe this woman to be the mother of this child?

LW: Right now we don't know who she really is.

*Dagger nodded comprehending what LW was telling him. But there was more. LW sighed and closed her eyes briefly. All of this had taken its toll on her and she was tired. Dagger waited patiently for her to speak. LW opened her eyes and looked seriously at Dagger. He could tell that she was mulling over her choice of words*

Dagger: You know you can trust me my lady.

LW: Yes I know. *with a sigh LW began to tell him the full story of what had happened*

*Daggers expression did not change as LW talked. When she was finished he simply nodded.*

LW: This information is not to leave this room.

Dagger: Understood.

[Sniper Tondry]

(ooc) LW, this is my l'il posty.

(ic)
"What the hell happened here?" Pierce Tondry asked softly. The metallic cold of the catwalk rail beneath his hands seemed more pronounced all of a sudden.

No one answered him until he turned and sent a baleful glare at the bay crew nearby. "Five diplomats, twelve Royal Guards, and thirty stormtroopers all dead due to a docking clamp failure," Pierce paused ominously. "And no one can tell me why any of the subsystems that protect against this sort of thing kicked in?"

"Actually, the subsystems didn't kick in because the computer was told there was a launch going on," said one of twelve men arriving. He handed Pierce a datapad. "Apparently, someone's been toying with our computers."

Pierce skimmed the report. "Unauthorized entry, unauthorized download, unauthorized operation of Imperial equipment," he read aloud. "On top of murder of Imperial personnel. Pretty hefty charges, Ludos. Do we know anything?"

"Not a thing," another one of the agents stated. "And someone out there has some skills. There was a trace on it, but apparently it ran to Nal Hutta and then died out."

Pierce's eyebrows lifted. "It's a false trail, not a solid lead," Ludos informed him. "Old slicer trick. You divert a relay from a location, download things through the relay, set up a stopgap, and it looks like the relay was the site of download."

The Vice-Director turned his head and gazed down at the crashed shuttle and broken bodies. "I want them found, Taus," he stated firmly. "The loss of forty-seven personnel ain't gonna go unpunished. What can we do?"

"Depends on what they took," Ludos said. "If it was heavy security, then we're probably going to have them within the hour. Black files have several happy little extra programs attached to them to prevent unauthorized usage. Moderates don't, but they do have the standard authorization log that we might be able to access. Light security wouldn't even leave a trail."

Pierce looked at a wisp of smoke coming from the shuttle's inside. Several men from the Extinguisher crew hurried over with hoses spewing fire-suppressant foam from tanks on their backs. The lines of his jaw set and began walking away from the railing. "Let me know when you find something, men. Those who die needlessly under my command will be revenged."

Edit to Jeseth: No, it can actually go either way, and I wrote it that way in keeping with playing my character (who is NOT a Basic major from the Obroa-Skai Institute of Learning).

[Jeseth Cloak]

Edit to Tondry: Heh... Alright, well pardon me in that case.

[Lord Dagger]

:: Dagger looks at LW ::
"And what would you like me to do now my Lady?"
:: Dagger touches the child with the Force, feeling its strength, the he touches LW feeling her strength and her resolve ::
"You know that i will not betray your trust and will help you through this"

[Live Wire]

*LW smiles at her friend and confidante*

LW: Thank you. I appreciate your loyalty.

*Dagger nodded silently and watched the child's eyes dart around curiously*

Dagger: What is the child's name?

*LW had already thought of that. After all they couldn't continue calling her "the baby" or "the child forever"*

LW: Well I kind of decided to call her Ariel.

*Dagger nodded his approval. It seemed to fit the baby*

*There was a knock at the door and LV walked in.*

LV: I made a call to one of my informants. He said he'll call back later today with information on this Marla L'roche.

LW: Sounds good. I guess I'll wait and see what he turns up before I call my people.

LV: Yeah. I'm sure he'll find the information we need. He seems to be able to do the impossible for me.

[Lord Dagger]

"Nothing is impossible,"
:: Dagger smiled slyly ::
"Nothing"
:: Dagger rose slowly and went over to the baby, he placed a hand on its head and muttered something, everyone in the room felt a wave of Force energy from Dagger and then he smiled and left, bowing as he headed out ::
"You know where i am if you need me"

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth knocked on Live Wire's door and leaned against the frame, waiting for her. He had passed Lord Dagger as he walked down the corridor and wondered if she would be busy... but perhaps he had found a lead for her.

[Lord Dagger]

:: Dagger arrives at his room and closes the door, taking as deep breath he performed the same anti-spy trick he had used in LW's room, then he sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. His Force sense travelled back to the room and to the child who he was most intrested in. Two minutes later Dagger broke the connection, unable to discern any more than he already had, he swore and began to pace the room wondering how to extract this last piece of information that would unravel the puzzle for him ::

[Lady DeVille]

*De'Ville tapped at Dagger's door. When he answered it she entered, leaning against the wall tiredly. Dagger looked at her, expecting her to talk, and she finally did.* I expect Live Wire has talked with you about the child.

*He nodded, and was about to speak, but she continued* There is something familiar about that baby. I sense it, and I know you can sense it too. I am going to ask Live Wire if I can raise the child. *De'Ville paused, eyes down cast* She reminds me of myself, I think.

[Lord Dagger]

:: Dagger studies DeVille for a long moment and sighs ::
"My dear DeVille, if only you understood, you sense something, but it is not what you think and i do not believe that LW will let Ariel out of her sight"
:: Dagger studies LD with his eyes and with the Force he chuckles inwardly 'if i were 500 year younger' he mused to himself, then he chuckled inwardly again 'i'd still be 50 years older than her' Dagger's expression softens ::
"There is something else, which i cannot tell you, as much as i wish i could, i'm sure LW will appreciate the gesture but i am equally sure she will turn down your kind offer"
:: Dagger layed a hand on DeVille's shoulder and she looked up at him ::
"The child will have a better life than you did, we will see to that"