Disclaimer: Ahem. *points a gun at Jagged* Notice how he's still alive?... Well, that's cause I don't own Lucas Arts…..


Chapter Thirteen


It was night at the Palace of a Thousand Fountains. A pale light bathed the entire planet, a shadow of the day. Darkness was everywhere, but light shone faintly. The fragrance of millions of flowers wafted through on a whispering breeze. Crickets chirped and a faint buzzing from other insects harmonized with the gentle sounds of soft music. The guards were silent as they slipped down the large ornate halls filled with images of the past. Servants cleaning a delicate sculpture spoke in low tones or not at all. The royal family was asleep. Only those who had a hidden agenda were awake. Black Fighter and Ta'a Chume: a spy and the former Queen Mother.

Ta'a Chume paced around the large desk in her office, her anger growing without reason. Two steps. Turn. Seventeen steps. Spin. Two steps. Spin. Six steps. Turn. Twelve steps. Turn. Twenty-one steps. Stop. Spin. Door opens.

"Your Supreme Majesty-"

"What?!" Ta'a Chume snapped as she whirled around, her eyes flashing with hatred.

The brunette took a hasty step back and stuttered, "I wa-a-was s-s-sup-pos-s-ed to-t-to gi-g-gi-v-ve-"

The Queen Mother's eyes closed briefly, How do I always end up with the stupid ones? Why me? Why me?! Her eyes snapped back open and she glared fiercely at the girl. "What. Did you interrupt me for." Anger underwrote her freezing voice.

The girl took a deep breath and spoke clearly; a chilling fear seemed to still her movements. "Ziaen has escaped. Eeth Lor is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corillia, then we lost all trace of her."

"WHAT?!" Ta'a Chume roared, her face a mask of wrath. There would be hell to pay.

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Zekk's breathing was labored as he strained his muscles to escape. He ran for the large door as a sense of evil satisfaction filled the room. "Nooo…" he whimpered. **DJAI!!! DJAI, WHERE ARE YOU?!?!* Zekk almost sobbed as he felt the coldness of the precious stone around his neck.

Zekk pounded at the door panel, a sob of frustration escaped him as it opened excruciatingly slowly. Dropping to the floor, Zekk wriggled out under the small opening as fear almost choked him. Once out of his dark room, Zekk stood clumsily to his feet and fled.

Zekk's feet pounded down the hallway. He had to escape Him. He would kill Zekk. The five year old lowered his head and his legs pounded the floor. The Force added strength to him; He was catching up.

"D…jai…." Zekk's broken voice tore at Djai as the grown man struggled to reach the closest thing he had to a son.

I'm coming! Djai screamed desperately as he tried to escape the cold, white prison that He had locked him into.

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Mara struggled valiantly against the feeling of loss as she gingerly explored the shattered remains of the bond with her Emperor. "Gone, gone, gone." She whispered in a tone that hovered between disbelief and horror.

Two emotions long since repressed glided into her heart. Fear and loss. Mara had caused them. She experienced them. They defined the Lady Jade in a way that other feelings wouldn't.

Slowly yet surely she pulled back from the base emotions, as an iron control slid over her weaknesses. Mara Jade, former Hand of the Emperor, lay still.

Her mind ticked off the long seconds as she drifted into a half asleep state.

"Mara… Mara…. Mara…." A voice called to her. Her eyes fluttered open and a glowing figure stood on her bed, leaning one shoulder against a wall.

"You…" Her voice was breathless, but not shocked.

"You're failing Mara. You promised. You promised me. And you're failing." The voice was filled with sorrow and Mara felt a blinding pain slide into her heart.

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Laedala seemed to float above the ground. Her black dress was too long and lay in a puddle on the floor around her. Two gray spears of cloth slid down from her hips to end in points at the hem. A much paler gray corset waist slid up into the black high neck and her sleeves were made from very dark gray gauzy material that betrayed the slender make of her arms. On her head a faintly luminescent silver headdress nestled gently in her hair.

Her eyes were closed and her breathing was calm. It was so easy for the medics to forget that underneath her sooty, lash-rimmed eyelids two eyes glowed with an un-holy light.

"How long." Her voice was quiet, warm, hard, cutting, deadly.

"Not… not… not long." An exhausted medic almost stuttered. A young Twi'lek dressed in doctor's fatigues ran up and took over his station. The older being turned and slid across the floor, much like a Hutt, as he walked into the door post. "Not…. Supposed… to be there…." He muttered and inched his way out the door.

Laedala waited for a few moments until the only sounds were the clacking of the keys and the air vents kicking in and stopping, kicking in and stopping, kicking in…

"How long?" Her voice was quieter then before.

"Not long! Not long at all!" The Twi'lek rushed, not removing his eyes from the panels in front of him. Does she have to bug me? I'm busy, for sith's sake!

Laedala's eyes opened and the metal room took on a red tinge that sent a chill down his spine. "You're…Busy?" The Empress smiled gently as she turned her piercing crimson orbs to the bacta tank where Kyp hung in suspension. She laughed suddenly and without reason. Her strange cackle was menacing and a chill slid across the room. Kyp stirred briefly.

Everything was red… red… fire… red… fire… flames… burning… death… red…

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Cait'ar sat on top of a large post, her back against the grimy wall of a darkened cantina. Her dark red hair was flipped over her shoulders but some of it still fell forward, throwing her face into shadows. A bright pink streak flowed down from each temple; very bright pink streaks. A small secret grin curled the girl's sparkly-covered lips upwards as she watched her thirteen year old counterpart win the round of Sabacc yet again.

"They're bluffing, Qol! You've got the best set!!" She whispered quietly, using the Force to see all of the cards.

Not quietly enough it seemed. A large Wookiee roared as he pulled Qol up from his seat. [The Human is CHEATING!!]

A crowd grew a little too swiftly for Cait'ar's peace of mind. Qol realized his midget sized pal had to run. "CAIT!!" he yelled over the swelling voices, "Cait! Get out of here!! Get my dad!! Just go!!"

"But wha' about you?!" She yelled back, standing up and clenching her small hands into fists; looking very much like the five year old she was.

"I'll survive!! Now GO!!"

Cait screwed up her tiny face with frustration. "Hell!" she muttered under her breath. Growing frantic, she flicked her gaze over to a broken window covered with an old tattered hide of some poor thing. Cait'ar grinned and dug one hand into a pocket on her baggy pants and fished out two Very Important things.

First and most importantly, a cert mint.

Secondly, a sweet modified holdout blaster.

Popping her sugar source [cert mint] into her mouth, she immediately raised her blaster and began firing. The angry voices quickly transformed into terrified shrieks as Cait'ar's shots hit dead center of her targets. In the time it takes to draw a breath and release it, she had killed four and a half beings.

One was lying on the floor twitching. Cait'ar ignored him. The smoky interior allowed for her to almost track the blaster shots as they razed the now very dark cantina. "RUN!!" She screamed as loudly as she could.

"CAI-" Qol tried to warn her, but a pale stun bolt had other ideas. The tall boy slumped to the floor with a groan and Cait'ar was surrounded.

A Selonian who was standing at the base of the pillar lashed her tail a few times, a blazing light shining in her eyes. With a hiss, she extended her claws and began scrambling up the pillar in a desperate attempt to sink her teeth into the frail, hairless, cheating humanchild. Cait'ar shot her seven times at point blank range. The Selonian fell to the ground as Cait'ar fished around in another pocket desperately; her hand slid out of her pocket, clasped tightly around the silver form of a miniature thermal detonator. An evil grin crossed her face as she punched in the timer stud and lobbed it in the direction of the largest group not containing Qol.

The explosion tore the room to pieces. Once the licking flames reached alcohol, the cantina's slightly controlled inferno blazed out of control.

Cait'ar smiled viciously.

Cait'ar C'baoth and Qol Ziaen had struck once again.

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Rosie and Carson stood in shock as all of their opposition suddenly dropped to the floor. A tall man eased around the corner, followed by a small curly-haired boy. A smile creased his face. "You two survived."

"Umm… duh?" Rosie said in a tone that made it obvious that she thought he was a few cards short of a full deck.

"Da – Arazune was worried that you'd die." The small boy said as he shifted a slightly modified blister blaster in his arms. "I told him you two were smart." He shrugged. "Thanks for proving my point."

Rosie and Carson looked at each other with raised eyebrows then at the kid. "Who the sith are you?"

"R. S. Azune. Bounty Hunter in training."

Carson let out a whistle. "Sweet! Can I be one too?"

"You're a girl. You can't."

A deadly silence fell over the bridge. Rosie cringed; Arazune covered his eyes with one hand and groaned; Carson growled low in her throat and her eyes flashed lightening.

"What?"