Chapter Two
Zirus Five

In the blackness of space the large celestial body of Zirus shone brightly. It's brilliant blue, white, yellow, green and violet gases swirled and moved, making the planet surface appear as though it were alive. The thick gasy surface was occasionally broken by the bombardment of meteorites which were sucked in by the planet's heavy gravitational pull. Several moons of various sizes orbited around the huge planet.

It was the fifth moon, named Zirus Five, which sustained life. It was much smaller than it's six other sister moons. It's orbit positioned it perfectly from her mother planet's dangerous gases. In fact it was the combination of the distance from Zirus and her gases that made the moon such an ideal enviroment for both human and a large variety of alien races to coexist.
The moon's surface sustained multi environments from rain forests to deserts, swamps to open plains and so on. It was in an outlying discreet city region that three of the five rebel band members, code named; Rogue's Gambit were found, caught in a sudden downpour of an off seasonal rain storm.

Two men and one woman stood under an archway that connected one mud dwelling to another for protection from the elements. There was a transcendental quality about the slender woman, as though she didn't quite fit in with her two companions. She had long blond hair that fell down her back and past her thighs to her mid calf. At the moment she was braiding it while her soft blue-green eyes scanned their surroundings. With a sudden pause and a predatory glint she focused in on movement to the left of them, on two unfortunate individuals who, like them, were caught unaware in the sudden downpour. The two hapless people were trying not to get too wet by running from doorway to doorway. She watched them as they quickly ran past and then ducked into another doorway, where they knocked and were given entry.

This unique beauty was Freya. She was gifted with empathic insight and knew, with a good look and a brief moment of concentration, whether or not an individual posed a threat. As the innocent couple disappeared through the door they had stopped at, she sighed with relief. They were not interested in her and her two friends.

"I thought we booked this gig for the dry season," said the younger of her two male companions. He was a tall Corellian youth in his late teens, with an athletic build. At the moment his dark brown hair clung damply to his angular face. He turned the collar of his jacket up and pulled it closer to his body, then cast his blue eyes at his older brother standing next to him.

"What are you complaining for Bailen? You said that you needed a shower, well here it is. Go enjoy it," the older man teased, pushing his sibling out from under their shelter.

Bailen Masters stumbled out into the downpour. His arms flung wide to try and catch his balance. It didn't help. With a resounding squelchy splash he landed face first into a puddle of mud.

"Keirdan was that really necessary?" asked Freya in a dry tone, while wrapping her braided hair around her neck like an exotic scarf to keep it safe from the wind and rain and out of her way. "If he gets sick, we'll be down another man. Not to mention that he could give it to all of us."

"Oops," chuckled Keirdan, "Sorry little bro I didn't mean-"

What exactly he didn't mean was cut off by the handful of mud, which Bailen had flung at the side of his handsome bearded face. Keirdan wiped the mud off and spit out the little bit that got into his mouth. He eyed Freya, who was watching him with suppressed amusement. "I guess I deserved that one," he said good naturedly.

"Yeah you did," she returned, then closed her eyes when flecks of mud hit her after another handful hit Keirdan.

"Nice going Bailen," said Keirdan Masters sarcastically, wiping the mud from his beard. He knew as well as everyone else in Rogue's Gambit, that his brother was very much in love with Freya, and suffered from bouts of awkward flustered shyness when it was brought out into the open. This was always a good source of fun for Keirdan, who considered himself to be quite the ladies man. "Real good way to make the first move on the woman you love."

Bailen blushed furiously and wiped his face as he returned to the shelter of the archway.

"Sorry Freya, I didn't mean to hit you," he sincerely apologized.

Freya stared at the two brothers, her arms now folded, her expression quite unreadable. She felt Keirdan's amusement at his younger brothers sudden embarassment.

Bailen's self consciousness deepened under her inspection. He and Keirdan exchanged a worried look and then both took a short step back from her.

Freya's brow lifted some. A slight smile curled the corner of her pretty mouth a second before she pushed them both from the archway to land on their backsides in the pouring rain. "Uh huh," she mused with a derisive glint and a little nod. Wiping her hands together she smirked, "There, now I'd say we're about even."

The two brothers laughed and helped each other up.

"Well there's no point just waiting for it to stop now," said Keirdan.

"Yeah I'm starving," said Bailen. "Come on Freya, we're not that far. You can make it without getting too wet."

Freya gave the angry skies above an appraising glance. The storm showed no signs of ending anytime soon, so with a shrug of her shoulders she sighed, "Lead the way," and then followed after the two brothers.

In a matter of a few minutes, in which an angry lightning strike lit the darkened cloudy skies above, the three had made it to their destination; Taver's Tavern. A loud thunderous crack split the air and announced their arrival to the moderately occupied pub.
It was a suprisingly well kept establishment. And though the lighting in it was dimmed, it had an air of welcome to it. They briefly stood in the open doorway, while Freya scanned the people inside with a hint of caution.

"Hey! You three," barked the gruff voice of the tavern owner over the voices of his regular patrons at the bar. "Don't just stand there! You're letting the rain in!"

Several people at the bar glanced over their shoulders at them as they moved in, dripping mud on the spotless floor.

"No! Not there, over there first," the man barked again, pointing to a single enclosed clear stall. "Maybs will help you," he told them, then barked over his shoulder. "Hey Maybs we've got three more for clean up."

A stout motherly looking tavern woman turned round from the table she was cleaning and frowned at her husband. "I've only got two hands Stilmon! And you've already got me clearing and cleaning. Get Philks to do it," she complained her hands irritably resting on her full hips.

"He's taken' a break," he shouted back, the gruffness in his voice going down a notch. "Come on Maybs, hunny. More patrons means more money."

Maybs threw the small cleaning towel in her hand down on the table and headed towards the three waiting friends, muttering all the way. "I tell you. . .What's a droid need with a break. . . Oh, he's going to be the death of me. . .Thinks he can sweet talk me. . .Working my hands to the bones and for what? Doesn't even pay me."

A fond smile spread across the brash looking tavern owner's mouth as he watched his wife go to the entrance. "You do it cause you love me," he answered his gruff tone back again.

"Aye, that I do," she exclaimed, turning to him and waving her fist in the air, in mocked frustration. "But the heavens only know why." She then turned on her heel and dealt with the new arrivals. "Alright, which one of you's first into the cleaner?"

Both Freya and Bailen pushed Keirdan ahead of them. "He is," they said in unison, taking a step back.

A small droid glided effortlessy past their feet to the entrance, cleaning the mud on the floor that they'd trailed in from outside.

"Thanks guys," Keirdan said, as Maybs seized him by the arm and led him to the enclosed stall. "Hey this isn't going to ruin my good looks is it?" his muffled voice asked after the clear door was secured behind him.

"Relax, handsome you'll be alright. We only use the old girl during the rainy season and on days like this so she's pretty reliable," Maybs assured as she worked the controls for the ultrasonic cleaner without looking at him. She then winked at Bailen and Freya. "He shouldn't lose too much hair."

"What! " Keirdan yelped, sharply grabbing the sides of the stall as the cleaning started.

Freya merely raised her brow, while Bailen, on the other hand, feigned suppressing his amusement.

"Laugh all you want, but you two are next you know," he told them derisively.

A pulsating electric blue light encircled Keirdan. It started at the top and trailed over him, gently cleaning the rain and mud from his clothing. It passed over him twice before he finally stepped out of the cleaning stall, at which point he was completely dry and freed of the outside grime. He appraised his cleaned reflection in the glass of the clear stall with an approving nod.

His handsome features were plainly evident. He was only slightly taller than his younger brother with rugged good looks and a muscular build. His hazel eyes glinted with mischief and did well to hide his more serious side.

He reajusted his lightweight dark blue vest. Then tugged at his tan longsleeved shirt and smiled at his own reflection. Keirdan Masters could have presented himself as the hard nosed leader of his two compainions if not for the casual way in which he wore his collarhalf opened. A blood red stripe ran down the sides of his bark blue Corellian pants revealing his race at once, to those that recognized it's meaning.

"You're next bro," Keirdan said, fixing his short dark brown hair in the glass, "and make it snappy will ya, I'm hungry."

"So what do you think Terell and Lana are going to want from here?" Bailen asked his companions as he stepped into the cleaning unit next.

"That depends on what's on the menu, now doesn't it?" Freya returned. She looked at Kierdan when he turned to her with a seirous inquiry.

"Speaking about Terell and Lana. Now that we're away from them, tell me what you honestly think. Is Lana really okay or not?"

Freya shrugged her shoulders. "It's hard to say. She's been keeping to herself lately."

"Yeah I've noticed it too," Keirdan agreed. "It's subtle, but it's like she's-"

"Been pulling away from us," Freya confirmed.

"She has then?" Keirdan asked the empath.

Freya nodded, which made him sigh deeply.

"It's because of Ehker's death," he said quietly. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy for her carry out his last command" his sentence stalled as he thought of the terrible events that led up to their arrival on Zirus Five. "She didn't have a choice though," he finally said cryptically.

"You guys talkin' about the Captain again?" Bailen asked as he stepped out of the cleaner.

Freya and Keirdan nodded sadly.

"You're next dear," said Maybs, to Freya, who moved away from the two brothers. The cleaner was distracting enough for Maybs not to hear them continue with their quiet conversation.

"I wish Ehker hadn't asked Lana to do it," said Keirdan honestly, "I wish he'd asked me to do it instead."

Bailen looked at him, almost stunned by what he'd said. "Could you have done it?" he asked seriously. "And not be affected in the same way?"

"Probably not," was Keirdan's honest reply. He looked his brother over before asking in return, "What about you? Could you?"

"I know it's what we're trained for but" Bailen paused for a brief moment in thought, then answered simply, "No. Some things are just too hard to do, no matter how much training you've had."

They stopped talking as Freya stepped out of the cleaner and Maybs spoke.

"Well now, that's all of you done. Follow me this way and we'll get you something to warm your insides with."

They trailed after the tavern woman, who led them to a table near the far wall not very far from a mid sized stage. They sat down while she rattled off the house drinks and then took their orders and left to retrieve them.

"So how are we doing?" Keirdan asked the empath while casually glancing around at the tavern's sparse patrons.

Freya carefully scanned each person within the room. No one in the tavern was interested in anything save maybe the food or drink in front of them.

"It's clear," she told him casually.

The subtle air of caution that they entered with vanished with this reassuring statement.

Bailen picked up a menu and began scanning it. "What shall I have?" He rubbed his stomach as it gave a loud groan for food. "I'm so hungry I could eat mud," he exclaimed, taking a casual dig at his brother.

"There's plenty of that outside," Freya replied with a slight smile on her face.

"Trust me it doesn't taste very good," said Keirdan. "This Nubian stew looks good though."

"Naw too fishy for me," Bailen disagreed, then made a suggestion. "What about the Borellian Dreagle eggs?"

"Too expensive," answered Freya. Her eyes scanning down the menu, "the sandwiches look pretty good. I think I'll order a couple to go, for Terell and Lana."

"Yeah, I think I'll have one of those myself," said Keirdan. And then as though he was still causally throwing out another suggestion about the menu selection he asked, "So what do you think Freya? Do you think you could have fulfilled Ehker's request and pulled the trigger?"

Bailen looked over the edge of his menu at the petite woman seated between them, waiting for her answer.

"Yes," she answered without hessitation, her casual focus still on the menu in her delicate hands. She glanced up at the two men when she felt the surprise subtly surface in their emotions. "What else can a good warrior do when an order is given, but see it through to it's conclusion?"

"It wasn't just an ordinary command Freya," Bailen said, lowering his voice and his menu. "It was a call to madness if you ask me and now Lana is suffering with the weight of it on her consicous."

"She knows she did the right thing," Freya insisted somewhat defensively. "They would have broken Ehker. And then that would have been the end of his line and probably us as well. If you think about it she spared him from suffering a painful lingering death."

"I still think we could have gotten him out of there," Bailen asserted his opinion with a sad introspective gaze. "There had to be a way."

"There wasn't little bro," said Keirdan, "Terell and I already racked our brains over it. The only thing we came up with was that somehow our cover was blown. And the Empire thinks we killed the informent."

"The Captian was no informent," Bailen growled defensively.

"We all know that," Keirdan said, motioning with his hand to keep the volume down. "It's not any one of us, but someone tipped the Empire off about Ehker or he wouldn't have been caught," he insisted, his mind going over what he suspected. "I think its very interesting that, whoever it was, waited just long enough for the Captain to hand off the codes to us before he was taken."

"Yeah I was figuring that myself. That's why I think we could have gotten him back," Bailen replied.

"There wasn't any time to think. We had to get out of there or risk being captured ourselves," Keirdan insisted, then he resolutely shook his head, "No, Freya's right, it was quick and clean, just the way Ehker wanted it."

"I know it's what he wanted," said Bailen sadly, then he leaned forward with a hard questioning look in his eyes, "but was it really the right thing to do?"

"Better that, than being slowly tortured to death," Keirdan returned matter-of-factly, his gaze dropping from his brother's.

"Don't think about." Freya told them wisely, her eyes casually scanning the menu again. "It's bad enough already with Lana thinking about it all the time. I don't need you two dwelling on it too."

Keirdan turned to her with a mild frown, "I thought you said she was blocking you out?"

Freya met his hard examination with a pointed look. "That's how I know that she's dwelling on it."

"Maybe we should have woke her up and brought her with us?" Bailen said, changing the subject.

"No, Terell was right, she hasn't had much sleep lately," Keirdan sighed. "Let her forget past deeds in sweet dreams, even if only for a short while."

"Sweet dreams? More like horrific nightmares," Freya scoffed sarcastically

.
"She's not still having them is she?" Keirdan questioned. "It's been over three weeks since Ehker died."

"They're not as frequent, but she still wakes up in the night shaking," Freya confessed. "Sometimes I get the residual feelings in them, before she blocks me out." She glanced at the two men with a sad quiet statement, "They're real bad. I think that's why she doesn't like to sleep that much around me anymore."

"Well Terell's with her now," Keirdan sighed, "So don't worry about it too much, he'll make sure she gets enough sleep."

"Well here we are," Maybs interupted, having returned with their drinks. She set each one down in turn and then diverted their attention on what they wanted to eat.

The Binary hotel was a busy place with guests coming and going at all hours of the day and night. The mid sized hotel was not extravagant by any means of the word. It had some elegance but nothing too extreme. Beautiful crystal chandeliers lined the main hall, which leant a small hint of refinement to the lobby. What it lacked in elegance it made up for in it's privacy rules. Guests of the hotel were left mostly to themselves, which suited Rogue's Gambit just fine. The less people that bothered them the better it was for them. Remaining unnoticed was what they preferred.

The rooms of the hotel were nicely decorated with small humble refinements. A nicely appointed bathroom, carpeted floors, a small wet bar, two double beds with night stands. A cushy sofa and an arm chair along with a small table was what guests found in their rented rooms. Their interiors were softly lit, which helped to keep up the illusion of a subtle romantic charm.

It was here, in two adjoining suites, where the small rebel band was staying. The two remaining members of Rogue's Gambit were waiting for their three absent friends to return from their mission; to make contact with their late captain's operative.

Terell Daxson sat in a cushy armchair not far from the bed where his girlfriend, Lana lay sleeping. He was an auburn haired Alderaanian man, in his mid twenties. His frame was similar to that of Keirdan Masters, with a muscular build, though he was just shy of six feet tall when he stood. At the moment his dark blue eyes were intently focused on what he was doing while he lightly hummed a favorite tune.

Skilled hands worked at reconnecting the intricate wiring of a midsized silver metal ball, which he had taken apart. It's two halves were in pieces on the table in front of him. He worked steadily, undisturbed by the thunderous downpour outside. Occasionally, after a loud thunder clap, he'd cast his attention over his shoulder to the bed, just to see if the sound had awakened his sleeping girlfriend. To his happy relief the sudden storm did not affect her slumber.

Terell connected the last two wires together and then closed up the silver sphere. He sat back in his chair and admired his handiwork. To an outsider of Rogue's Gambit this sphere would appear to be nothing more than a hovering lighting effects ball. No one would know what it really was, an enhanced holographic emitter. Terell stood and stretched, then glanced at the timepiece hanging on the wall. It had only been a little over two hours since he had started his final work on the sphere, shortly after Lana had fallen asleep.
Anxious to see if he got it right this time, he pulled a palm-sized remote from his belt and pointed it at the silver ball. It rose into the air and hovered in place. It's almost inaudible hum captured the immediate attention of the cat-sized winged animal, who was partially curled up next to Lana on the bed. He laid with his head turned upside down purring softly, his short squirrel like arms lazily stretched out. The pupils of his sharp light blue, almost white, eyes dilated and then fixed on the hovering sphere.

Curiosity captured the strange looking animal. He rose and went silently, on all fours, to the very edge of the bed, all the while raising his partially serrated predatory beak into the air to sniff, trying to catch the ball's scent. Creature, as he was called, raised himself up on his feather covered talons to stand taller and gain a better vantage point. His ears pricked forward listening to the humming sound. Still wanting to be closer, he curled the end of his long prehensile tail around Lana's booted foot and leaned out as far as he could without using his wings.

Terell smiled when he heard the animal trill curiously at the silver ball. Creature never missed an invitation to play, so Terell shifted the controls, knowing that he would be attracted to the sphere's sudden dart from one spot to the next.

Sure enough Creature jumped up and started to chase the silver ball. He leapt from one piece of furniture to the next, wings spread out for extra balance while he took broad swipes at it with his short front paws. Again and again he tried and failed to catch the swift stealthy metal ball.

Terell kept the game of cat and mouse going until, finally annoyed at the hovering balls constant evasiveness, Creature took a more predatory stance and launched himself with deadly accuracy. In a flash of silvery-white feathers and a whipping of his long tail the sphere was snatched out of the air. Creature landed on all fours, the silver ball held tight in his black tipped prehensile tail.

"Alright, that's enough fun Creach, now give it back," Terell chuckled.

Creature ignored him and flew away with his prize to the bed, where he dropped it. He then folded his black tipped wings in close and flopped down, to playfully bat the ball between his front paws. The animal's crest feathers rose jauntily high when Terell came forward. Creature stopped the sphere with his paw and gazed up at the man.

"Oh, so you want to play it that way, do you?" Asked Terell.

Creature trilled at him with a keen expression and then focused his eyes on Terell's hand poised on the remote. With a teasing bat, he rolled the ball to his other paw and held it there.

"It's a game of who's faster? Is that it?" Terell questioned, while setting himself in a readied stance.

Creature nodded, then very slowly lifted his paw from the ball in a ready position. All the while keeping his intense light blue eyes focused on the man's.

"Okay then, on three," Terell suggested and he started to count, "One, two" His eyes shifted past the animal to the woman in the bed and his expression dropped to instant concern, "Oh Lana, I'm sorry we didn't mean to wake you."

In the second it took for Creature to glance over his left wing at the sleeping woman, Terell snatched the ball. Before he could fully draw his hand back Creature's tail wrapped around his wrist and caught him.

Honor, loyalty and swift reflexes were some of the traits that made Creature a trusted member of Rogue's Gambit. And though only an animal he clearly understood when a sneaky move had been thrown at him. The animal turned with a scolding growl.

"Shh," snickered Terell, placing a finger to his lips. "We don't really want to wake her up."

Creature apparently agreeing with this, released him and looked back at Lana. He abandoned the game, raised himself up on all fours and softly walked over to her pillow to check on her. She remained peacefully asleep. With a gentle touch he nuzzled her forehead and then laid down and rested his small head on hers. He started purring again, content to be right where he was. Terell stroked the animal's feathery soft head and tickled behind his ears when he came over to the side of the bed.

For a quiet moment Terell watched Lana sleep. She looked serenely innocent with her eyes closed. Her angular features seemed softened while she was lost in dreamless repose. Terell tenderly brushed her dark brown hair off her cheek and then bent down to softly kiss it. Lana did not stir. Terell's gaze showed clear affection as he watched her sleep. Creature perked up, peering at a spot on the opposite side of the bed. He trilled questioningly in that direction and Terell covered his beak while straightening.

"Shhh," he whispered, placing his finger to his lips again.

But Creature would not be silenced. He shook his head free and protectively growled at the vacant spot.

"What's the matter boy?" asked Terell, now looking where Creature was. He saw nothing, but had the faintest feeling that something was amiss with his surroundings now. With a subtle breath he closed his eyes and tried to let his mind see what his eyes could not. No image came to him, but he did feel a great sense of calm settle over him. When he opened his eyes he realized that he was caressing Creature's head, calming the animal's protective instincts. After a second Terell smiled to himself and shook his head as though he thought he might be losing his mind for a moment. "It's okay boy, there's nothing here to get your hackles up for."

He then placed the silver sphere on the nightstand. "Hey Creach," the animal cast his attention over his shoulder at him, "keep an eye on her, while I go take a shower."

Creature straightened and became more attentive, as though guarding the sleeping Corellian. Terell smiled and then disappeared into the bathroom. The animal's inspection fell on the opposite side of the bed again. He stared intently at what appeared to be nothing but air and emitted a low warning growl. The sound of the shower starting, broke Creature's attention from nothing as he decided that he too needed a bath. He moved off the pillow, settled on Lana's right, between her and nothing and began his daily preening.

Somewhere in another part of the galaxy two ships hurtled through hyperspace. On board the Millennium Falcon Han was seated around the holo table in the hold relaxing with Princess Leia, who was finishing her tale that brought him up to speed on what had happened in the Alliance during his six month absence.

"So the Alliance is regrouping near the Majestic Nebula," Leia finished with a mild sigh.

"It sounds like you guys have really been busy while I've been away," said Han.

"We've had to come out of hiding," Leia told him with a small nod, "all the sections of the Alliance have been revealed to one another. After the heavy losses we took on Hoth, we've had to join forces just to try and regroup our numbers."

"How many did we lose on Hoth?" Han asked with concern.

"You know that the first few ships got away before we left," Leia began. Han nodded, remembering the report going out over Hoth's icy hanger speakers announcing their successful escapes. "We lost about three ships after that and some of their x-wing escorts," she told him sadly. "More than half of our ground troops are still unaccounted for as well as some of our smaller ships. And until we showed up with Luke, after Cloud City, they thought we were all lost."

"The Empire really hit us hard," Han agreed with a grim nod.

Leia shook her head and whispered gravely, "All those people left behind" She fell silent, her eyes reflecting the burden of her command. Han didn't need his full sight back to know that she was feeling responsible for the loss of life on Hoth.

"Hey, come on, you did the best that you could do and then some," he assured her seriously. "You stayed longer than anyone expected you to, or wanted you to for that matter."

"You stayed as well," she reminded him, fondly meeting his gaze.

Han felt his stomach turn over with sudden nerves. She was waiting for him to admit how he felt about her, he was sure of it. He had played her game of hard-to-get and won. Twice he had been moved, far more than she knew, by her confessions of love. Still he didn't know why he couldn't give voice to his own true feelings for her. Naturally he covered his sudden awkward feeling with a sarcastic bit of honesty that had nothing to do with his feelings.

"That's only because Chewie and I were frantically putting this old girl back together." The old swagger was back in Han's voice when he slapped the pad of the bench he was leaning against. "I wasn't going to leave her behind for the Empire to scrap."

Leia smiled and couldn't help but toss a friendly little jeer back at him. "And here I thought you stayed just so you could impress me. My hero, come to my rescue."

"More like playing the hero and look were it got us both," said Han, his brow coming together in harsh judgement of his actions.
"Vader still caught up with us. You probably wouldn't have been captured if you'd left with someone other than me." Much to Han's suprise, she didn't argue with him. Instead an ironic smile spread across the princess' face.

"The funny thing is Han, if you hadn't taken me off Hoth when you did then more people would have died," She told him.

"What are you talkin' about?"

"Well, if Vader hadn't been so distracted with capturing us to get to Luke, then he probably would have succeeded in completely decimating my entire segment of the Alliance. Your actions saved a lot of people on Hoth. As a matter of fact you've got commodations waiting for you when we get back to the Alliance. There might even be another medal coming your way."

"Keep the medal," said Han, waving his hand as though the idea of another medal was an annoying fly buzzing in his ear. "I didn't save you just so I could collect them." He gazed at her, wrapped casually in her dark desert cloak. Her hair was still in the long singular braid that someone in Jabba's court had put it up in. Even with his poor eye sight he could see how beautiful she was, like an angel come to his rescue. Leia blushed under his serious inspection and shyly diverted her gaze to her cloak. She didn't pull it closer to herself though. On the contrary she let it slip open, revealing the slave outfit she'd been forced to wear for Jabba. Han touched her chin and tenderly raised it up until she met his gaze once more.

"The truth is your Highness, I couldn't leave you behind."

His confession made her blush more. It was his way of saying how he felt without actually saying the words 'I love you.' She leaned over and met his lips in a deeply affectionate kiss.

Five black gloved fingers slowly flexed and then lowered one by one to the palm and opened back up. Luke was testing the response time of his damaged mechanical hand while his ship sped through hyperspace. He frowned some, not fully satisified with it's delayed response and removed the glove to inspect his injury again. He found the problem immediately. One wire was partially severed in the back of his bionic hand. He searched through the side compartment and pulled out the electrical/medical kit that Too-Onebee had given him after he'd recieved his replacement. He was greatful that he'd had the foresight to place it in there, for just such an occasion like this.

Luke set the kit on his lap and opened it, then carefully stuck his left index finger into the opening of his injury and felt around to assess the damage. With an understanding nod, he removed his finger and took out a small electro scalpel, then glanced back at his hand.

This was going to hurt.

He closed his eyes and prepared himself to deal with the pain he was going to feel while cutting into his flesh covered bionic hand. With a controlled breath through his teeth he carefully cut an inch long incision just beyond the injury and then spread it open.
Upon closer inspection Luke realized that the wire needed to be replaced. But with no other resources to fix his hand with he had to settle for the quick fix. It only took a short moment for him to splice the damaged wire and secure some medical tape around it. Once done he retested the hand again, closely watching the interior mechanics of his replacement while it moved.

"That's better," he said with mild satisfaction.

Luke then placed the same medical tape over the incision he'd made to help keep it closed, all the while, ignoring the dull painful throbbing of the cut.

He returned the specialty medical kit to the side compartment and then slipped the black glove back on his hand for protection. With his hand taken care of there was no other distraction to keep his mind from going over the horrible Force vision he'd seen earlier.
He looked at the ships controls and saw that he still had several hours before his hyperspace jump to Zirus Five was over. Luke sighed, greatly annoyed that he had no other distractions for his mind. Sure enough he started thinking of the images in his vision. Princess Leia's face came into sharp relief, her lifeless eyes looking shocked as blood trailed down from the blaster shot in her right temple.

Luke briskly shook the image from his mind. "Well alright if you can't stop thinking about, then you'd better start making use of it," he told himself.

Artoo-Detoo caught his attention with a questioning beep.

"No Artoo I wasn't talking to you."

The droid returned with a concerned series of whistles and beeps. Which Luke couldn't help but smile at when he read it.

"No Artoo I didn't hit my head in Jabba's palace." The smile faded as he told his faithful droid to keep watch while he tried to get some shut eye. "Wake me up when we're ready to come out of hyperspace."

Artoo-Detoo beeped his reply and then set himself on full alert.

Luke then settled back into his seat and closed his eyes. Not to sleep, but to meditate on the images in his Force vision. More specifically on the five strangers he was sure he was going to meet in the near future. Better to keep his mind fixed on them, than on the events he saw them all take place in.

The Jedi's mind became serene with each relaxing breath he took. Soon Luke's subconscious was once again freeing itself to become one with the Force. It sped faster than lightspeed to the moon were the five strangers were. At first he saw them all as though from above and then as he concentrated more he was going on a level with them.

He then found himself in a room, near the side of a bed, where the woman was sleeping. She didn't stir while the auburn haired man lightly kissed her cheek.

Luke's attention was then drawn to the strangest looking animal he'd ever seen when it straightened up on the pillow and trilled at him. He felt sure, by the animal's posture, that it was sensitive to the Force and could therefore feel his presence. It stared intently at him and growled.

The Jedi was astonished by the man's reaction to the animal's protective nature, when he actively tapped into the Force. This man knew something of the mystical energy and though he was not strong enough in it to see him, Luke instantly knew that he'd had some practice in how to use it. Here was someone that he could introduce to Yoda for possible training.

Luke was only slightly disappointed when the man shrugged the odd moment of and then disappeared into the bathroom.

The animal moved off the pillow and settled himself between the Jedi and his sleeping charge and began preening.

Luke's focus fell back on the woman, who looked very young. He thought that perhaps she might still be in her teens and found her to be reasonably attractive now that he could see her features a little more clearly. There was only a slight trace of a distortion about her.

The animal jumped sharply when she suddenly sat upright in the bed, startled awake by something. Her faded appearance instantly came into the sharpest focus Luke had ever seen of her. She looked panic stricken right in his direction and for a moment Luke entertained the idea that, like the man, she'd sensed his presence. Breathing very hard, she scanned the room wildly as though searching for the cause of her abrupt jolt to consciousness. After finding nothing she leaned forward, pressing her palms into her eyes, in an apparent attempt to banish the remnants of the fear that had woken her.

"Get grip Lana," she told herself sternly, rubbing her chest, trying to calm the shocked beating in her heart.

Luke felt some relief, aside from finally seeing her clearly, he'd gotten her name. Now at least he had something with which to find them when he arrived on Zirus Five.

He watched her lower her hands to the bed and let herself fall back onto her elbows with her eyes shut and her brow wrinkled warily. "There's nothing there. . . nothing, it's just a bad dream," she whispered, trying to convince herself that she was alone.
The animal bumped his head against her right side, gaining her tired attention.

"I'm okay Creach," she assured, her gaze straying to the right of her bed.

Luke saw age far beyond her years reflected in her hazel eyes. She had the look of one who had seen and taken part in violent battles. A part of Luke felt saddened by this, here was another like him, who's blissful innocence had been stolen away by the harsh realities of war with the Empire.

Lana slide back to lean against the wall, whereupon Creature climbed into her lap and started purring. A faint smile came to her, revealing that perhaps not all her innocence was gone when the animal solicited her attention with a soft trill.

She inclined her head and bumped foreheads with him, before lightly kissing him between his ears. Then with a heavy sigh she sat back and leaned her head against the wall. Her tired lids became heavy. She covered a deep yawn and then gazed without real focus in Luke's direction. She absentmindedly pet the animal in her lap, until sleep finally reclaimed her.

Only then did Luke pull his subconscious back to himself, several lightyears away. Through his insight he'd gained her name and that of her strange pet, he would not forget either of them.