Keeping the Galaxy Intact

[Rogue Nine]

The being called Lane had taken a seat at the central holoprojector and listened intently to the conversations between the new crewmembers, pointed ears perked up and gloved hands intertwined and arched in front of thin lips. The lips smiled as the ears monitored the unnamed man's words, picking up the subtle cues and mannerisms with which he spoke. As Lane expected, his words aroused a poignant interest in Tysyacha and she reacted quite strongly when she arrived at her minor epiphany. She quickly stood and headed off for the cargo bay, her fingers already grasping for the silver cylinders hanging from her belt.

 

Lane's booted feet set on the floor and raised the lithe body up, but did not follow the flustered Exile into the hold, instead propelling themeselves towards the cockpit of the freighter. The mismatched eyes alighted on the one called Kimber as the legs danced the body into the seat next to the pilot's. "It seems as if Ms. Odnova and our yet-unnamed party have something to discuss," the lips spoke, still singsong. "I wonder how long he will go without a name. Names are quite important to have." The eyes glanced at Kimber, a sudden seriousness flashing through them.

[ForceFightWMe12]

He picked the words out of the air, knowing that they were meant for him. His eyes shifted ever so infatismally towards where Tysy had taken off down the corridor, noting every word she called to him.

 

'Spanner-boy'. If you're really Revan, come to the cargo hold, if you can hear me. I know how to tell an imposter from the genuine article, because only Revan could beat me in a fair duel. He was the one who taught me how to use my shortsabers, before they both turned red as a laigrek's eye. Come, if you are not a fake or a coward!

 

Only Revan could beat her in a fair fight...then yes, she really was the Jedi Exile, if she remembered that. However, he didn't respond. He didn't move. To all others, it would seem as if nothing at all had transpired.

 

He hesitated a beat or two more, as if waiting for Tysy to return and explain her sudden ephiphany. When she did not, he looked at the droids and Rika.

 

"I suppose that now would be as good a time as any to begin getting settled in." he said, with a slight nod that could have been a parting bow. "So for now, I bid you adieu."

 

Departing down the corridor, he was careful not to look near the cargo hold as he neared it, turning down the side corridor just in front of it.

[Tysyacha]

The cargo bay door slid open, revealing the dark-haired mechanic newly christened "Spanner-boy". Tysyacha was waiting, her two short silver sabers ignited and crossed close to her heart in a defensive position. The expression on her face was simultaneously calm and passionate, if such completely opposite emotions could exist together in one look and state of mind.

 

"Greetings," said Tysyacha, smiling, "or should I say, zdravstvuyte?"

 

Stravst-vit-tye. A formal way of saying "Good health to you," although a salutation that would be used between strangers, co-workers, or in older times, between servant and master. The servant, naturally, would be remiss and speaking impolitely without the -te ending, so why had the Jedi Exile kept it? Tysyacha herself knew why and yearned to either prove her suspicions correct or silence them once and for all. The time had come.

 

"I propose a duel," announced Tysyacha, her voice soft and level, "although not one to the death. You remind me of a former Master, the very Jedi whom we wish to find. Revan, who was known as Darth Revan before he became redeemed through Bastila Shan and the Jedi Council. Are you he, or not?

 

"In order to either prove or disprove my suspicions about your true identity, let us spar until one or the other yields from exhaustion or respect. Only Revan can beat me in a fair fight, because he's the one who taught me the Niman form of saber combat and to use my two most loyal allies." A wink.

 

"If I win, then that means you are not Revan, and I shall apologize for this sudden inconvenience upon you and all the rest of the crew. If you win, however--you get to name your price, and I, as Tysyacha Odnova, promise to honor it. Do we have a deal? I won't presume to call you 'Spanner-boy.'"

 

"You just did," said the mechanic with a wry half-grin, and Tysyacha laughed.

 

Get ready, she told herself. Fight harder than you've ever fought.

 

(PLACE EPIC DUEL HERE) *I can't write fight scenes worth a darn! Help!*

[ForceFightWMe12]

((XD, not to worry. You may not have to write one just yet.))

 

He needn't have turned around to know who it was standing in the doorway, watching him. The thrum of the sabers was the main give-away, though he suspected that he would have been able to identify her footsteps if the door had not ben closed. After her message had finished, he had thrown the basic barriers up around his mind once more - closing himself off completely.

 

Not a word slipped past his lips as she spoke to him - in fact, he hadn't turned to look at her. He stayed bent over the footlocker that he had dragged out from under the bunk that he had chosen for himself, a few of his items still in hand. He finished setting them into the storage container before he spoke.

 

"I don't see why you suddenly believe that I'm Revan." he murmured, standing and turning to her. "Me, of all the people in the galaxy...be Revan? Such an absurd idea - no offense meant, of course."

[Tysyacha]

Tysyacha blushed, her face becoming hot with shame. She de-ignited her lightsabers.

 

"Of course it's an absurd idea," she mumbled. "You're exactly right. I suppose that my mind, both conscious and unconscious, is so eager to find Revan that it sees him in every human male with a similar look and build. I apologize for jumping to such a hasty conclusion, sir. The duel will not be necessary. I--" Confess it all, her heart said.

 

"Revan, as I said, was my former Master. However, I haven't told you of my true feelings for him. Even though there was another, in that dark seven-year interval between the Mandalorian Wars and the present day, Revan has always been my first love. Atton Rand and I could have been partners, but both of us were fools and did not admit how we felt until Atton--died." She took a deep breath, almost crying. "He had lost a duel with my second Master's apprentice, a monstrosity named Darth Sion. Sion tortured him to death, and he only said he loved me as he breathed his last."

 

Tysyacha wiped a tear from her eye. "As for Revan, I don't know where he is or even have the slightest theory where he could have gone. As for your saying 'what better place to hide than in plain sight?', my heart filled with hope, and it seems this hope has betrayed me. Your being Revan is as impossible an idea as a round square or a skinny bantha!" She laughed a little, but the man didn't find the joke to be so funny.

 

"Forgive me. I should have been professional about this, but I let my passion overtake me. Jedi are supposed to be masters of self-control, of objectivity and discipline, and most of all, of compassionate detachment to others and duty to the galaxy itself. Perhaps this is why I failed--I, the Jedi Exile as I'm known, could not truly fulfill the responsibilities and meet the standards I swore to uphold when I became a Knight.

 

"As for Revan, I still truly love him, and I want to tell him before either he or I die."

 

There. She'd said it, and there was no turning back. No explanations, no apologies, and certainly no denial of a single word as "testimony under duress". 'Spanner-boy', as was his un-name, simply stood and watched, his look a mix of curiosity and something else. Something warm and sympathetic, un-judgmental, waiting for her to embrace it.

[JasraLantill]

"It seems as if Ms. Odnova and our yet-unnamed party have something to discuss," the lips spoke, still singsong.

 

Kimber turned her head to look down the corridor down which Tysyacha and the mechanic had disappeared just moment earlier. "Apparently so," she murmured to Lane.

 

She was confused about what had just happened, but being as she didn't yet know the crew that well, she pushed aside the temptation to go and find out what her new captain and the enigmatic engineer were doing. As gregarious as she was, it certainly didn't seem polite to be nosy at the present moment. With a shuddering and dismissive shake of her head, she turned back to console, taking time to familiarize herself with the controls.

 

"I wonder how long he will go without a name. Names are quite important to have." The eyes glanced at Kimber, a sudden seriousness flashing through them.

 

Kim nodded. "And, for some, a name can be quite the private thing to disclose," she replied. "I mean, a personal name can not only denote someone's planet of origin or social status, but in some cases, their entire family's history. Perhaps he has something to hide." She paused for a moment, trying to gauge what reason the near-human had for choosing an alias. "As for me," she continued, "I've never had anything to hide about my family. Quitaan's an old and well-respected name on Corellia, goes back centuries. And as I'm quite proud of my Corellian heritage, there's really no reason for me to go by anything other than Kimber Quitaan."

 

She glanced askance at Lane. "So, why did you choose 'Lane' as your name?" she asked cautiously. "Any particular reason? Special significance? Or did you just like the sound of it?"

[Rogue Nine]

"So, why did you choose 'Lane' as your name? Any particular reason? Special significance? Or did you just like the sound of it?"

 

The lips curved into another smile. "As I said, it is a far better moniker to go by than 'that pointy-eared rogue'," they replied. Lane lifted a thumb and forefinger to stroke at an ear absentmindedly. "I think it's a fairly decent name," the lips continued. "Clean, unobtrusive. Definitely one of the better ones I have gone by." Lane paused, lithe fingers at the tip of the long ear. "Do you like it?" the lips asked of Kimber, the eyes focusing on the Corellian pilot again.

[JasraLantill]

Kimber took a moment to consider. Odd, she thought to be asked by someone she had just met if she liked an alias name or not. "Yeah," she said after a moment. "I guess I like it well enough. It's simple, short, and easy to say. A bit ambiguous, but..." She eyed Lane over, and then grinned. "...it seems to suit you."

 

She flipped a button on the control panel, bringing up the nav charts. "So, you're a scout, right? You must know, like I do, some of the 'pit stops' that aren't on the standard nav charts. While our captain is away, let's fill in a bit of our charts, shall we? It might save us some time later."

 

She punched in some co-ordinates for an apparent empty space on the chart. "Novafront," she said, entering from memory the basic information for the new planet entry. "Or at least that's what the locals called it. See, I've got some of the co-ordinates memorized for the places we went to in the Unknown Regions, but they're all in relation to known worlds. Like Corellia. And not just because it's my home world, but because it's got a lot of hyperspace lane intersections." Her eyes quickly flicked from the console to Lane. "So, where's your home planet?" she asked casually.

[Rogue Nine]

The lips paused, not answering Kimber's question immediately. They parted, as if ready to speak, then closed again. The mismatched eyes closed and the thin, small nose took a deep breath. "I do not have a planet to call 'home'," the lips finally said, a bit quieter than before. "I do not recall much of my youth, but the little that I do tells me I was born in space."

 

Lane's thin fingers alighted on the Ebon Hawk's console, quietly typing. A holographic display of the galaxy sprang up, similar to the one in the common room. At Lane's touch, the display zoomed in on a section of the Inner Rim. "The first reliable memories I have are of this area," the lips spoke as the hands gestured. "But it does not feel like home." The fingers manipulated the controls a little bit more, focusing the display out of the Inner Rim and resettling it on the border between the Outer Rim and the Unknown Regions. The lips parted, again as if about ready to speak, but as before, they closed without saying anything.

[JasraLantill]

As Kimber examined the area on the galaxy map that Lane was showing her, she asked, "So, does that place feel like home then?" She racked her brain. "As I remember, and don't hold me to this, but... I think there was a planetary system about..." She pointed to a particular spot. "...there. Binary system, six planets, two habitable--one temperate, and the other icy, cold and rocky." She frowned slightly. "Although, it could be there, too," she pointed to another spot slightly away from her first guess.

 

She looked at Lane. "Are you familiar with that sector? Last time I was there, we were doing survey work for some Republic archaeologists. Daft people," she added, with a roll of her eyes. "Always thinking that they're 'discovering' something new, when really they're just uncovering something that been there for thousands of years."

[Rogue Nine]

"I'm not familiar at all with that sector," the lips told Kimber. "No one really is, that's why they're called the Unknown Regions." The smile had returned to the lips, and the eyes twinkled with merriment. "As you said, they've been there for thousands of years, but yet we still think we're discovering something new. Why is that? Why do we know so little about the Unknown Regions?" Lane brought thin fingers to the lips, stroking them thoughtfully. "Or maybe the question we should be asking is why Revan wants to know so much about them? After all, he doesn't do things without a purpose. And to go into unknown territories without a purpose doesn't seem like something one of the greatest tactical minds this galaxy has known would do, does it?" Lane's head flicked to the side, sending tousled hair flying. "Oh how I'd love to pick that man's brain for a day or two..."

 

(( Happy Birthday, Jasra! Hope your day isn't too busy and that you get some good R&RP time. ))

[JasraLantill]

((OOC: @R9--Thanks! I did. ))

 

"Well, I just thought that if you were a scout that you might have been in that area before," Kimber said to Lane. "Lots of scouts keep their information secret." She tapped her temple with her index finger. "Suppose that keeps them 'self-important' in their minds. They wouldn't dare put co-ordinates into any type of navicomputer, in case their 'secret' got out. But eventually, all secrets get out. Otherwise, the Republic would still be just the Core Worlds, right?"

 

She finished inputting the co-ordinates to the planet she was adding to the Galaxy Map, and started to input another. "As far as a purpose to go into the Unknown Regions? Well, there's only two possible reasons I can see. One, is for money. New hyperspace routes to get from one place to another faster, or perhaps discover a new planet of resources to exploit, or even a new sentient species to trade with. Even the archaeologists have money as their motive. They get funded by rich, bored aristocrats to go and find these 'objects' of art to bring back with them. They might 'say' it's for an existential purpose, but it all boils down to just plain money in the end. Credits make the Galaxy go 'round, even way out there.

 

"Second reason why someone would travel out that far is just for the adventure." She smiled. "That's my reason. I just want to know what's out there--just for the hell of it. Same reason that some folks climb a tall mountain--because it's there and they can.

 

"As far as Revan's reasons, well.... Revan was a Jedi, so he probably has knowledge of things that the average person wouldn't. You know, I've even heard that some Jedi can see into the future. Imagine that. I mean, if you knew that a particular event was going to happen in the future, could you change it? Or would it happen anyway, but just by a different method?" She snorted. "Force stuff. It's all pretty mystic to me. Guess Revan's reasons wouldn't be exactly 'normal' though, now would they?"

 

She paused with what she was doing to give Lane a quizzical kind of look. "Just let me know if I'm talking too much, okay? I don't know you well enough yet to have those periods of 'comfortable silences.'" She winked. "But, don't worry. They'll happen eventually."

[ForceFightWMe12]

((Happy birthday Jas! ^.^ Sorry I haven't replied - the wedding has kept me out of reach of a conputer for the past few days >.<))

 

He watched her with a look of confusion, compassion, and...something that he had to fight to keep carefully hidden. Otherwise, he kept himself quite detatched - as he always did. He had to, for the greater good.

 

Listening to Tysyacha's empassioned tale caused his expression to grow softer with understanding. When she had finished, he moved slightly closer to her, holding out a hand in pity.

 

"It is no easy task to be parted from a loved one for any great length of time." he continued forward to lightly put his hands on her shoulders as he spoke again. "However, I think that your problem...is that you need to have a little more confidence in yourself. You've stayed alive thus far by relying on little more than yourself and a few companions - have some faith now."

 

He held her gaze a second longer before he turned around, moving back towards the foot locker. "Now, I believe that you have a very eager pilot awaiting your orders." he looked over his shoulder at her, "The sooner our search begins, the better."

[Tysyacha]

Tysyacha nodded, feeling emboldened not only by the mechanic's kind words, but his touch as well. She re-holstered her two sabers and bowed to him apologetically.

 

"You're right," she said, her near-whisper sounding stalwart. "I can't afford a loss of faith now, not with everyone on board and ready to possibly sacrifice themselves on this great adventure. A captain leads, after all, and part of leading is boosting morale. Let's get back to the cockpit, and I think it makes sense to take you up on your suggestion of Nar Shaddaa as a hiding place, or launching point, for Revan. Another crime-ridden cesspit, I know, but I have a contact there." The mechanic nodded, and he and Tysyacha strolled up to Kimber's chair. The expanse of stars waited silently.

 

"Kimber," said Tysyacha, "our mechanic friend here believes that Nar Shaddaa might be a good starting point in looking for Revan. I know it's one more disreputable ball of rock, riddled with the poorest of the poor interspersed with members of the Exchange, but there is a sentient rodent, Kala-Naa, who sees and hears everything that goes in and out of the upper floors of the planet. If anyone might have seen our Jedi target, it would be her." Tysyacha crossed her fingers and winced when HK-47 proved helpful:

 

"Condescending Question: You're going to interrogate a rat for information? Seems like a viable plan to me. After all, it might do us good to exterminate that bit of vermin."

 

"Hey, HK," grumbled the Jedi Exile. "Zakroitye vash rot. Shut your mouth."

 

"Ah! You are addressing me by the respectful form of vy. Excellent, Master."

 

Tysyacha swore that the next time Rika did repairs on that particular "protocol droid", she'd make sure that Rika put his vocabulator in backwards or at least on "silent".

 

As for "silent", the rest of the crew was, including Kimber. What would she suggest?

[JasraLantill]

Kimber nodded thoughtfully. "Kala-Naa? Heard the name, but never met him. Her. It." She shrugged. "Whatever."

 

She started to input the co-ordinates for Nar Shaddaa into the navicomputer. "But Nar Shaddaa... I can get us there no bother, Cap'n. Been there lots of times. Not exactly on the 'tourist trail'," she added, as the engines started to rev up. "But, even cruise ships need someplace cheap to resupply and refuel. And the Corellian sector is great for that." She winked. "Especially since I'm a member of the trade Guild."

 

The ship rose from the docking platform with grace and ease, and then left the surface of the planet. In a few minutes, they had broken the atmosphere. "Okay, we're about to enter into hyperspace," Kimber said through the shipwide comlink. "Please stow away all personal belongings in the overhead compartments, ensure your seat is in its upright position and that your seatbelt is fastened securely. Next stop, Nar Shaddaa."

 

She turned over her shoulder to look at Tysyacha, and gave her a silly grin. "Sorry. Old habit." She looked at Lane sitting next to her. "Ok, here we go...."

 

And then she shoved the throttle forward, taking the Ebon Hawk into hyperspace.

[Tysyacha]

Hyperspace travel was, according to Tysyacha, the most incredible blessing that space engineers and explorers had ever given to the galaxy. Within a few hours instead of days or even weeks and months, the newest crew of the Ebon Hawk found themselves sliding onto an unoccupied landing pad on the world of Nar Shaddaa, "unoccupied" meaning "slightly unused, crumbling, but still relatively safe."

 

Tysyacha smiled apologetically at the wary expressions on everyone else's faces. "Sorry," she said, "but this planet's not exactly famous for its infrastructure. Only the Exchange, which I hope is in disarray since I helped to stabilize things here, might have safer landing pads. Foreigners, visitors, and the commonfolk have always had to make do with whatever the Nar Shaddaa government can afford to offer them."

 

She, Rika Saben, Kimber Quitaan, Lane, and the still-unnamed mechanic exited the Hawk down the loading ramp and started walking toward the center of the upper floor of town. Down below were--seedier elements, so to speak, even more so than the Exchange, and the most destitute of the working class and unemployed. Vermin swarmed heavily in the depths of the planet, and monsters no one had yet named. There was no law on Nar Shaddaa below the true "living spaces" of the planet, and no hope. It was comparable to the depths of a mythical Hell some Earthlings believed in.

 

"Kala-Naa should be over near the front door of the main cantina," Tysyacha said, pointing. "She's rather inconspicuous, but I can pick up her rodent scent clearly." Grimaces were seen on a couple of crew members' faces, but the Exile smiled. "Don't worry. Kala-Naa keeps herself clean, and she doesn't carry any diseases or plagues."

 

Reassured (or at least partially so), the five strolled over to the outskirts of a garish-looking cantina. Tysyacha was surprised, or more than surprised, to see that Kala-Naa had built herself a nest near the door. Baby mice peeked their heads out from beneath its bantha-fodder material, and Kala-Naa suddenly came running out and squeaking.

 

"My babies! Don't touch them, human scum, or I'll bite you--Oh! It's you, the kind lady who visited me two years ago and gave me 2,000 credits to get in very good with the Exchange." Surprised looks from the crew. "I not judge you. You just not want to get on their bad side, and you did good things too. Like save that one girl from Hutt spice

camp, along with mum. What you want this time? More information?" A toothy smile.

 

Tysyacha nodded. "Kala-Naa, I'd like you to spend some time thinking back, far back, and see if you can remember a man. He had dark hair and was tall, having a scent of power about him and a leader's stride." A pause. "He might have even been wearing a scary mask." She preferred not to think about those dark times, but they had existed.

 

Kala-Naa started squeaking excitedly. "Scary man! Scary man not hurt me, although I thought he would. I saw scary man in mask. He was looking for someone or something. Who or what could it be? Anyway, I heard him say to someone near him, with bald head and nasty purple sections on it, that he would soon find the place, on a dark planet, where 'there was no darkness'. He headed for light, when all else was black. Where could that be--black planet? Kala-Naa not know of any black planets around."

 

"Darkness means evil, too," said Tysyacha. "A dark planet. Malachor? Was that it?"

 

"Mal-ee-kor dead. This planet live--I think. So far, far away that Kala-Naa's head spin just thinking about it. I listen more, but I hear mumbles and more mumbles. Sorry." She bowed her furry head. "Wait--it that way." The rodent pointed decisively.

 

"Jeering Statement: A black hole? Master, this surpasses ridiculousness. Let us leave."

[JasraLantill]

Kimber listened intently as the rodent-like creature known as Kala-Naa spoke to Tysy and the rest of them in broken Basic. When she came to the part of the black planet where there was no darkness, Kim frowned slightly. But when the rat indictated the direction of this mysterious planet by pointing in a particular direction, Kim slowly raised a querying brow.

 

"Ah, relational co-ordinates," she said in a low tone to Lane. "My absolute fave. Not."

 

"Jeering Statement: A black hole? Master, this surpasses ridiculousness. Let us leave."

 

Kimber couldn't help but grin at the assassin droid's statement. "Not a black hole, but...." She paused. "Maybe... maybe a system with binary stars? You know, a planet where there isn't ever any darkness because light always shines on its surface?" She wracked her brain. "I remember coming across an uncharted system with binary stars during my travels with my last crew. Not that we actually went to any of the planets there. I mean, they might not even be habitable. I just remember seeing the system and recall the gravitational fluctuations that indicated there must be planets in orbit around the twin suns. It was most unusual."

 

She looked at Tysy, and shrugged. "Just a thought, anyway." Then she gave a sideways glance at Kala-Naa. "A lot easier than trying to work out relational co-ordinates from a pointing fin..." Rats didn't exactly have 'fingers'. "Erm, pointing digit."

[Grace]

Rika had kept toward the back of the group, listening to the conversations and information from Kala-Naa. As Kimber commented on her prior proximity to the uncharted system with binary stars, Rika smirked.

 

"Perhaps we could use a combination," she suggested. "Compare Kala-Naa's relational coordinates with your recollection of the coordinates of the binary system. If they match with some relative success, we have a heading. If not..." She frowned. "I have... contacts we could try. However, unless it proves absolutely necessary to call my contacts, I should prefer to avoid them... long story."

[Rogue Nine]

The lips pursed, pensive. "Twin stars, eh?" they said as thin fingers stroked a stray wisp of long, sandy hair. "There be quite a few twin stars in this nook of the Galaxy. It would be prudent to have a bit more criteria to work with... though if we're dealing with the Unknown Territories, we might as well be going in blind as a mynock." The eyes were alight with amusement, despite the lips' ominous words.

[Tysyacha]

Tysyacha turned to Kala-Naa for the second time. "I know it's been more than two years, perhaps even more than five, since you last saw the 'scary man', but we need a little bit more to go on than that, Kala-Naa." The Exile smiled. "Don't worry. I'll reward you for your troubles, and you can be sure that as long as I'm around here, your babies won't get hurt." She dropped to one knee to be at eye level with the gregarious female rodent. "Anything?"

 

Kala-Naa gazed deeply into the eyes of the Ebon Hawk's desperate captain. "Let me see. Scary man was talking with bald head man, and they were saying something like, 'all black, all darkness, then light. All shall be light.' Kala-Naa not understand everything they were saying, though. She do her best. As for planets--something like Pal. Pal-um. Pall-a-dum." A pause.

 

"Palladium." This was a wild guess on Tysyacha's part, but a guess was better than nothing. "There are few planets in the galaxy that supply this scarce Earth metal, and one that is entirely made of palladium would be--"

 

"Impossible." This from the Exile's most favorite droid. "Shall I terminate her?"

 

"No." Tysyacha ignited her lightsaber and held it dangerously close to HK's chest. "The trace Force signature here is one of almost Earthlike proportions--mass, density, environment--but it's not Earth. It used to be a 'light' world, inhabited by peaceful beings, but now every single inhabitant has perished except for one and his or her followers. Sort of like Nihilus and Visas Marr."

 

The Exile turned to her crew. "Well? Do you think I should be in an asylum?"

[JasraLantill]

Kimber raised an eyebrow. "An asylum? You, Cap'n? No." She looked askance at Kala-Naa. "Though I'll reserve judgement for... erm, any others." She cleared her throat and quickly continued. "But an entire planet of palladium.... Well, I'd have to agree with the droid on that one. Sounds pretty impossible to me, but, then again, in the Unknown Regions who knows what's possible and what's not.

 

"But to have that much palladium in one place...." Her brow wrinkled as she considered the possiblities. "The amount of cold-fusion power that could be generated would be nothing less than astronomical."

[Tysyacha]

Tysyacha nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry, Kala-Naa, but none of what you're saying seems to be making any sense. Would you like some credits to--erm, help support you and your family?" She hoped the rodent wouldn't take offense at her offer of 200.

 

"Thank you, kind soul," Kala-Naa said, taking the proferred credits with a dainty, pawlike hand. "I owe much to you. However, I am afraid. If you go after scary man, you might die. He not be headed for any place good--that's for sure. Kala-Naa could smell the anger and the hatred running off of him. Please be careful, sweet tall one."

 

"I will." She shook Kala-Naa's paw and turned to the others, especially Rika Saben.

 

"Well. It seems this contact hasn't panned out as much as I thought it would. Rika? You said you had contacts as well, and we might need to consider them a bit."

[Grace]

"I have one contact," Rika corrected. "And she has a galactic network from which she gathers information beyond anything passed on by word of mouth... and often, her information is far more accurate than Republic intelligence. Though lately, that isn't much of a compliment. Her information is good."

 

She hesitated for a moment. "I should offer some kind of warning, though. Katya Skyhawk has attempted to kill me at least six times before..."

 

Kala-Naa squealed. It was obvious she'd heard the name. Indeed, very few in the galaxy had not heard of Katya Skyhawk. "Bad name! But it is legend. None have seen a face."

 

"I have seen a face," Rika answered sternly. "Katya Skyhawk is very real, a flesh and bones human being."

 

"Many faces she is said to have," Kala-Naa whispered. Rika nodded.

 

"Disguises," she agreed. "Some say she is not one woman, but many. Lies."

 

"I fear..." Kala-Naa began, but Rika frowned sternly down at the little creature.

 

"I am far more familiar with Katya than anyone has a right to be," she said quietly. Turning to Tysyacha, she finished, "I know her tricks. We can have the advantage here. We just have to be careful."

[Tysyacha]

Part Two: The Dvukh Ultimatum

 

Tysyacha felt an odd, hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. Words such as evil and terrorist briefly flashed through her mind, subconsciously associating themselves with the not-so-innocuous name of Katya Skyhawk. However, what did such concepts mean anymore? Both the Jedi and the Sith, she remembered, used these ideas to further their own agendas, Light and Dark. Being careful was exactly what one had to do in this ambiguous day and age, dangling by a spider's thread.

 

"It's a mistake to seek help from this Katya," said the Exile, "but at this point, it's a mistake I am personally willing to make. If there is a price to be paid for Ms. Skyhawk and her full cooperation in locating Revan, I will pay it. Any cost that comes with this mission will lie on my head." She turned to the crew. "If any of you object to this, I'll let you back out. Something tells me that this is what the sages meant when they coined the phrase 'necessary evil'. The Force tells me that Katya knows what we so desperately need to know as well, but if we seek her out, the cost will be very high."

 

Words from Master Kavar, long-buried, came back to warn her. If you must do evil for the sake of the greater good, Tysyacha, then humbly, gladly, and fully accept every consequence. If there is guilt to be felt, feel it, if a penalty to pay, pay it.

 

"If you stand with me, we could all fall together. Are you sure you'll take this course?"

[JasraLantill]

"Fall? I'm a pilot. Pilots don't 'fall'. Not ever." A slow grin manifested itself onto Kimber's full lips. "They crash and burn sometimes, yeah, but they never just 'fall'."

 

She gave a look at the others. "I'm in this for the adventure. And if part of that adventure is seeking out some 'necessary evil' in the form of a mysterious ill-tempered woman called Katya Skyhawk, then so be it. I agreed to be a part of this, and I never break my word. Besides, I've been in dangerous situations before." She looked down at the bloodstripes on her trousers. "CorSec don't give these out for selling cookies, you know."

 

She smiled at her captain, her enthusiasm to get going visible and clear. "So, as long as you and Rika can find this 'woman of a thousand faces', necessary evil or not, I'm in. Lead the way."