"Master…"

Mara's stomach tightened as she spoke the word in her mind, holding her knees to her chin as she sat in the mesh covered pilot's chair, watching the swirling, morphing lights of hyperspace around her. It felt like that great tumult that she was now watching through the viewport was moving in the pit of her being as well.

"What is the status of you assignment, child?" came the Emperor's baleful tone moments later. "Might I trust that you have been successful? You do know the great… displeasure I take in failure."

She sat there and stared down at her legs, saying nothing, but already, should felt a sense of impatience emanating from her master at her delay. "Professor Ardina… is dead, at your request, Master."

"Excellent. And the holocron?" Again Mara was silent. This was all the answer the Emperor needed.

"I have not trained you for failure, Mara Jade," he responded quickly, slithering across her mind with a razor's edge. "Nor will I except failure. How that such a simple task as this was beyond your means?

"I had obtained it, but by a twist of fate it escaped my grasp. It was destroyed by a stray laser blast." Immediately, a wave of emotion swept over her body, surrounding her; constricting her. Her own feelings were amplified ten fold… fear, displeasure at her failure, depression…soon joined by the anger, the disappointment, the disgust and the scorn that radiated from the very presence of the Emperor as it raged within her, causing her to physically shake. The pain would not be as horrible had she had been physically assaulted rather than this punishment her master now buffeted against her. It was an assault to her very soul.

"You will return to Imperial Center immediately. There is more training that you require… to root out these defects from your being. I will have neither fear nor weakness nor any other impurity within you that would sully my Hand."

"As you wish… my master."

And then she was alone, and so very cold as she drifted alone through the darkness of the void.


The walls almost seemed to reverberate with the low grumbling that came from below him. It was hard to make out clearly from a distance the words in those resonant snarls, but what he could hear clearly was the weak speech of his friend, the Twi'lek medic Shalla Zar. Reaching to his holster, Abras withdrew his well-weathered blaster pistol and continued down the ladder within the tube shaft by one hand. His eyes remained trained on the faint light and the figures within the doorway now directly beneath him.

A single mammoth arm, clad in crimson and pitch-tinted battle armor, was all of the warrior that he could make out from his position. Lifting the blaster's scope to his eye, he took careful aim at the junction where the armor and the T'surr's hand were separated. Sights aligned and the lone blaster bolt screeched forward from the barrel and found its target, impacting mostly on the armor yet still scorching the skin upon its hand. The beast doubled back and released the young Twi'lek which had been his captive, and, with a blood-curdling scream, she began to plummet into the darkness. No time to loose, Abras leaped into action.

Re-holstering his side-arm, he withdrew a small grappling hook from his opposite hip, tied one end of it to the ladder and then dove down after Shalla, a enthusiastic whoop echoing out as he did. Within seconds, he had caught up with her in their descent, his bangs flying back in his face as he snatched her up into his arm. The suddenness of the rescue left her startled, fearing that it was Karyk trying to fish her up, but when her eyes finally locked with the sea green of Abras', she felt peace.

"I've come to the rescue," the young man called, an awkward smile on his face as he held her in his arm.

"So I see, and it's most definitely appreciated."

"I couldn't let that nerfing…oof!" His thought was jostled as the pair came to an all too sudden halt in their decent, sending them both lurching downwards before, to their dread, beginning an unwelcome ascent. "Oh Sith spit."

Neither of them said anything as soon they were both staring eye to eye to eye with the snarling Karyk as he held their rope, and they attached, up by one hand. "Cretin. Did you think you would escape me so easily?"

"Honestly, yeeee…ahhhh!"

The clawed grip of the T'surr furiously took hold of Abras' right forearm, prying it from Shalla and then catching her as she began to drop. Pressure increased upon his arm and the young man let out a pained howl as his arm began to crack and crack again. Karyk raised his lip, bearing his dagger teeth, before he tossed his male prey behind him with such force that the cable attached snapped as he flew. Turning its gaze back to Shalla, it looked almost as if the beast smiled, if that was at all possible.

"Now then, where were we?"

"You….were just about to say…. goodbye."

Karyk turned and watched as a small sphere rolled over to him across the floor, stopping at the light touch against his boot. Spying it cautiously, his eyes widened in recognition as it finally clicked in his mind, but it was too late. The spark grenade detonated in a burst of luminescence, sending a crippling blow of electricity through its body, causing it to drop his captive to the floor at the force of the blow. By the time the munition's power had ceased, the T'surr stood there motionless, his face twisted into an even more ghastly snarl, smoke rising from his body. There was no further reaction from him, though, as his great bulk toppled backwards, stiff as a sheet of durasteel, and plummeted down the tube shaft and impacted with a resounding thud.

Shifting to her knees, Shalla crawled across the chamber to where Abras laid, the two again locking eyes as she smiled warmly and planted a light peck upon his cheek, "Thank you. Thank you, truly, dear soul."

"Eh, it was nothing. No sweat." His voice and body were weak, but he tried to force a coy smile onto his face which caused his Twi'lek companion to giggle.

"Yeah, well it may be no sweat, but apparently it is one broken arm." With delicate fingers and an even more delicate touch, she rolled up his sleeve and took a look at his mangled right arm. Her expression gave him the general idea of the situation he was in.

"Give it to me strait, doc. Am I gonna live?"

"Oh don't be so melodramatic. Yes, you're gonna live, but you won't be using this arm for quite a while."

With curiosity, Abras watched as she searched through her knapsack and began towithdraw the equipment she needed. While she wasn't watching, he placed his hand upon hers, the one she was using to prop herself up with, and grinned as her face flushed from yellow to a bright orange. Almost like a divine sign of approval, light flooded the chamber without warning and the rest of the ship as systems began to come back online, both of them flinching at the sudden shock of the light, and a voice called out in the silence.

"Shalla, where in the void are you!? It's been nearly fifteen minutes and we're still waiting here outside Sillek's quarters."

She reached down to her belt and withdrew her own comlink, smiling briefly, then, as she felt Abras' hand upon her cheek, wiping away spots of blood and, at the same time, the irritation she felt at her fellow crew member's impatience. "Well, I'm sorry. I would have been there sooner, Crae, but I've been a bit busy. I ran into some hunter trouble on the deck above."

"Hunters!? Good gracious, are you alright!?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…with a little help from a friend." The two exchanged glances once more, smile echoing smile. "I'm treating a few injuries here, but I'll be there soon as I possible can. In the meantime, someone may want to fish our big blue friend off of the lift tube."

There was no response at first, but the sound of laughter of Craeldo and several others soon echoed over the comlink. "Yeah, sure, I'll get to it right away. I've got a few friends here myself we need to take care of, but I may just have an idea."


Satoorn Fwee cowered as the assembled beings gathered in a half circle around him, their shadows falling down darkly upon him as he backed up towards the wall. A Duro, a Vurk, a Rodian and a Human. All these now surrounded him; glaring down at him, forcing him into this tight spot.

"Now then, my little friend, we have a little proposition for you," began the Duro, a devious grin upon his face and swept his hand outward towards the Blastboat that sat embedded in the Nova Hound's hull to their left, where the one airlock had once been.
"We have your Dashade friend and the T'surr hunter resting soundly on the ship, wrapped up snuggly in cargo meshing. Enough to keep them restrained for now, but not for too long after they awake. What we would like you to do is get this big red eye sore out of my ship and fly all of your force-forsaken bodies out of here and never show up again."

Gulping, the Phuii tried to put on a brave front. "A…and if I's d…don't?"

"Well, let's see," with that same grin upon his face that sent a shiver down Fwee's spine, the Captain looked to his cohorts, some cracking their knuckles, others brandishing pistols, vibro-blades, stun batons and the like. "I suppose we could do something with you. Aye, boys?"

Those with him grumbled and growled in agreement.

"Whatever route we might take, you're still gonna end up on that ship. Only in this scenario, you'll be unconscious when your friends in there wake up as you all are drifting about in space. And I doubt they'll be all too happy when they do wake up."

"Especially the T'surr," chimed in the human in response, one of his arms held up against his chest by a sling. "He had a rather humiliating defeat, so his awakening should be most… enthusiastic."

"So, here are your choices, friend. Get this ship out of here of your own volition, while you can still defend yourself, or drift helplessly through space with your ravenous compatriots. What will it be… what will it be?"

Eyes heavy and shoulders equally so, Satoorn lowered his head and gulped again. "I's will gets the ship outta here."

"Wise move." Leading him with a hand on the shoulder, the Duro Captain led the young Fwee to the partially lowered landing ramp and gave him a light shove forward. "Now I suggest you get going and seek landfall before they awake, if you value your being."

"Y…yes, yes. Thank you, oh benevolent ones!" With a bow, the diminutive creature spun around and scampered up the landing ramp, prepping the ship and flying off in Razorfang as quickly as he could get it going, leaving the crew of the Nova Hound there, and watching in silence from the shielded wound in their ship. Their ploy of intimidation had worked.


The Corellian sun was warm upon his back as Captain Danar made his way into the docking bay and towards the ship, hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped and head hung low as he shuffled along. In the distance, a sand warbler sang its mournful song.

His boot steps were heavy as he marched up the landing ramp, the sound increasing as he entered into the confines of the ship. At the top of the incline, he paused and let out a sigh.

"Such a dire expression. If I didn't know you any better, I'd say the meeting with Ardina's family didn't go well, but that's not it. Not completely, at least."

Marikk glanced up and, to his left, saw Sillek resting against the wall, eyes shut and arms crossed across his chest. A small smile cracked the edge of the Duro's face. "Well, it's good to see you up and around at last, Sillek." He stopped and said no more until the Quarren's blue eyes opened at last and seemed to beckon him on. "The meeting with the Professor's family went quite well, actually, despite the whole shock of the situation. It was his grandson and family. I wasn't even aware the Professor had been married. I… I was expecting more distant kin. Anyway, they thanked me for helping him and bringing his body back to them, at the very least. Then we parted ways"

"And how are you?"

"Well, you know me…"

"That I do, Marikk, that I do, so you should know by now that there's no game you can play that can fool me."

His shoulders lifted with a light chuckle the Duro locked eyes with Sillek. "Ya know, you're a little too perceptive for your own good, sometimes." Walking to the other side of the doorway, opposite the Quarren, Captain Marikk stretched out his legs and mimicked his old friend's stance. "It is hard. I'll admit that. I took on the responsibility of protecting Professor Ardina and the holocron… and I failed miserably. Not only did I have to deliver his corpse to his family instead of the man himself, but the holocron is lost as well. The one thing he most wanted protected, even more so than himself, and now… who knows what has happened to it. This all has been a complete and utter…. an utter failure!"

"This does not sound like the Marikk I've known for all these years."

"I know, I know. I tried to conquer these feelings earlier, when I first found him in his room, but this whole situation… it's culled them back up."

"Listen to me well, my friend. You fought valiantly in hopes of success for Professor Ardina's goals, and yes, there have been failures, but we do not know it has all been a total loss. Though while possible that woman may have escaped with the holocron, with all the chaos that was going on we do not know for sure. You could not have foreseen such an action, and you did what you thought was your best chance for success. If there has been a failure, then I, too, would be equally at fault for losing the holocron, but failures should not necessarily be looked at in a negative light. If such has made you stronger, and you have taken from it what you need to achieve success next time, then there was a purpose to it after all. That is what I was taught in my younger days and so have I seen to be true even today."

Standing from his place, Sillek walked over, stood before Marikk and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Take this situation. Learn from it and grow stronger, but first, you must pull yourself out of this sorrow that's enveloped you. Do not let this time go to waste."

Marikk reached up and placed his own hand onto Sillek's outstretched arm. "Thank you….thank you, indeed. I will." He shook his head and smiled, a smile much more accustomed to his usual countenance. "Well then, this isn't right. All this wailing from me and I haven't even asked how you are."

A slight smile appeared in Sillek's countenance. "I am well. My body is still sore and there is an occasional twinge in my tentacles, but thanks to Shalla's quick work, I should be fine in a matter of days."

"Good." Marikk's eyes glanced down quickly and locked on that unnaturally shortened appendage that hung rather limply upon the Quarren's face, the lower edge of it wrapped in clean white dressings. He cringed ever so slightly before being snapped out of his momentary daze when Sillek finally spoke up.

"Dormanin was able to contact the repair master on Chandrila station and passed on an explanation of what happened earlier. As previously agreed upon, we received the coordinates to the planet Vaynai and directions on whom to visit upon our arrival."

"Very good. Yes, very good indeed. " With a stretch of his arms, the Captain stood up straight and waved his companion on towards the lift tube. "Then let's not wait any longer. The stars await."


The bridge crew worked busily at their individual stations, prepping their wounded Hound for flight. Thanks to Dorm and Leda's quick work, the ship was now at least operational, though they wouldn't want to wait too much longer before getting repairs taken care of.

With his usual skill, Marikk got the ship up and off into the air, piloting them through the skies over Corellia. As the blue sky melted away from sight, replaced with the inky blackness of space in the viewport, he felt a presence approach him from behind.

"Marikk!"

Knowing the voice immediately, the Captain grinned as a datapad suddenly appeared in front of his face. "Loon, to what do I owe the pleasure now? What's this?"

"Well, read it!" the half-breed retorted in anticipation.

Scanning through the pad, he found on it a note penned by the Professor himself, shortly before his death:

Captain Marikk,

With the current troubles now enveloping the ship, I wanted to take this time now that I have here in my quarters to leave you this note, should things turn awry. Thank you, good sir, for all of the trouble you and your crew have gone to make sure that I and my package escaped Imperial clutches. I cannot begin to tell you how much your kindness means to me.

Likewise, though, I do not believe that you should go unrewarded for your efforts. As you'll see by checking your personal accounts, there has been a sudden increase of roughly two hundred-thousand credits. This is but a pittance to what you should really be accorded, but hopefully it can be put to good use.

Thank you, again, for all that you and the crew of the Nova Hound have done. Until we speak again in safer and happier times, be well.

In your gratitude,

Professor Constantin Ardina

For once, Marikk was speechless. Despite all that had happened… or rather, all that was going on, the Professor had still managed to see safer and happier times ahead. In Ardina's memory, so would he, taking this time now to grow, as he had learned from Sillek. Datapad in hand, he stuffed it into his pocket. "I'll keep this, if you don't mind."

"Of course. I had found it earlier on the middle of the dining table when I was passing by his former quarters. I knew you definitely would want to see it."

Again, and as usual, the Captain smiled, it was a mixture of bittersweet happiness on his face. "And right you were. Now, I suggest you find a seat, we'll be leaving shortly." His cousin nodded and retreated as Marikk worked busily at the controls. It took him but a moment to input the coordinates and double check everything before it was finally time. Reaching to his hip, he withdrew his comlink into hand. "Hold on, everyone, we're about to make the jump into hyperspace. Vaynai, here we come."

Space warped around them as the hyperdrive engine hummed to life and sent them accelerating forward. In a flash, the Nova Hound was gone, leaving Corellia behind them, but the events leading up to it far from forgotten.


The chamber was completely dark, not the slightest sign of light or a single cast shadow was visible. Then, at its center, two circular panels began to glow with a pale blue light and rise from the flooring as the holonet transceiver rose from the floor and came to life, bathing the Admiral in its light as the projection. Two beings appeared, one an older human male with widow-peaked black hair and thick creases running down the sides of his mouth, the other a figure in robes, his face shrouded.

"Admiral Elric, what do you have to report?"

Hands clenched at the small of his back, the Admiral bowed to the two. He was an older being, his gray hair being the fact that most distinguished this point for there were few wrinkles upon his stern face. "I'm afraid I have received negative replies from all of our Hunters on the pursuit of Professor Ardina."

"And these were the best hunters you could find?"

"The best that were available, though all are highly respected in their field. It seemed, though, that the Professor was dead upon arrival, I'm afraid. Someone else had beaten them to it, a woman according to the report given by the Gand Zuckuss, Moff."

There was an obvious disgust in the Moff's demeanor as his gaze bore down upon Admiral Elric. "And the fate of the Holocron?"

"According to scans taken from the sensor banks of the T'surr hunter's ship, it was apparently destroyed in crossfire during the unknown assailants escape. Apparently the one called Karyk had opened fire on one of his rival's ship, which then led to its destruction."

"These hunters are worse than wild dogs, at times," spat the Moff, his mouth curling in disgust. "Fools. While this is a setback, indeed, we shall soon try to find another way of fulfilling our plans. I am transmitting a series of coordinates to your database now, Admiral. I want you to send out scout ships to each of these locations. According to our research, these places may be our best hope at finding the information we require. You have your orders. Report back to me when you have obtained results."

Again, the Admiral bowed as the projection of the Moff and his shrouded companion faded and all again was darkness. With quick strides, he withdrew himself from the communications chamber and made his way back to the Star Destroyer's bridge. There was much work still to be done.