Author's Notes

Hello. With things being as they are in the world I have a lot of time to write. Gonna be a little hard to pay rent but that's not what we're here for! This is the last chapter of the Taris arc and once we're done here we'll be moving a bit back to Game of Thrones then Naraiz is going to go figure out what's the deal with his clones. Then after that we are actually going to have a bit of a time skip. Honestly if I didn't use time skips every now and then we'd never get to the really cool stuff I have in the future. So yeah, some things will happen during that time but it's honestly just busy work. I'm thinking that I'll do a all Cipher Nine chapter as like a time skip intermission since i haven't used him nearly as much as i wanted to.


I hate being as blind as I am right now. With Qui-Gon right here I can't loosen the shackles and sense out the Force to get a idea of what I should do now. Even as I watch him meditate while the rest of us sit around a camp fire, I can't say I'm not jealous that he gets to be so connected with the Force.

"It's been eight hours… when is that Twi'lek gonna contact us about an escape route." Dalla groaned as he chucked a rock across the hall we had bunkered down in. While I didn't appreciate his tone, the sentiment was shared. Vette was taking too long to call me again, even to just check up on me. Time was growing long, and I was starting to suspect something had happened on their end.

The beasts that had been harassing us had gotten the message that more of them would die before any of us did, so they fucked off to find easier prey. Our search for the Circlet was put on hold until we actually had a way out. We did manage to find the more secured area of the tower that the hidey holes of the Circlet could be, but they were locked behind blast doors long since corroded shut. We would need some explosives to bust them open or maybe their was a hole in the wall or something but for right now we weren't too keen on searching any more. The promise of treasure was lost on people if there was no way out to get paid for it.

"Do you think we might be able to find our way out on our own?" Qui-Gon asked and if was asking that then it meant the Force was a dud. Considering this was Taris I wasn't surprised. Far too many horrible things happened on this world for the Force to feel particularly strong, and with it as dead as it was even more so. There was a smothering blanket on the galaxy, one of Light, but that meant for those that were normally used to it were extra blind in the dark corners of the galaxy like Taris.

"We came in from the right, sixth door… down a hole in the floor… several turns…." I started muttering as I tried to recall the exact pathway that we had taken. I looked down at my armor, BI-6 should have been recording things like this so I could ask her. Thing is… I really don't want her to wake up from her inactive mode. With how unstable she is and the possibility of there being a threat could result in her doing something I can't control. If we end up staying a full twenty-four hours then I'll bring her into the picture but that would mean shit has really hit the fan.

"I bet it was Yensi, that fucking traitor made off with the ship." Dalla grumbled before shooting me a death glare. "You had to bring me along on this suicide mission. I could have been in me tiny little room, taken Yensi out when he came to finish me off and had that ship all to myself but no… you had to tempt me with money." Dalla stepped forward and stuck a finger at me… like I cared. He continued to bluster as I stared into the fire and the twins took a nap in each other's arms.

But then I lifted my head as I felt something in the Force, Qui-Gon must have felt it too as he stood up with me. I looked at the shadows of the room intently. We weren't alone. Droids, I couldn't sense anything alive but I could sense something was disturbing the environment. If I had to guess it would be Plagueis' Lancer Droids. These precursors to the IG line were made by the Banking Clan's less than legal departments and as such were entirely under the command of Plagueis. They were extremely deadly however not to the degree of the IGs, still… I'd rather have much better odds in my favor if they came in numbers.

"Emmi, Felli… wake up. We have company." I said glaring out into the upper levels of the hall. I caught a small glint between two of the pillars. They were getting ready for a ambush. I glanced back to Qui-Gon, he was their target. This place was a unknowable maze of ruined halls and collapsed floors. Even if they had a scan of the place it couldn't be too deep. "Everyone, I'll hang back and keep them distracted. Head into ruins and start working your way up, if you can make it to the higher floors you'll have a better chance at finding a open window to escape from."

"You can't be serious, that fall would kill us." Dalla whispered as he gripped his blasters slowly as to not alert the enemy too fast. Too bad we were fighting Assassin Droids, the second his hand touched the grip of his blaster we were under a hail of fire. Thankfully it seems that Qui-Gon was back to fighting spirit as he lifted up chucks of ruble to block the barrage of blaster fire. "And you want to stay behind!" Dalla laughed as he ducked under cover and started taking shots at the surrounding droids.

"Shut up and get moving!" I roared before hopping out of the circle of floating rubble. I dodge the incoming bolts easy enough, though they got closer than they should have. Running toward the nearest stairway but then jumping back just before a thermal detonator blasts it apart. I roll away from the blast and into cover. I take a few pot shots at where most of the firing bolts are coming from to draw their attention. They might be droids but even they don't like being actively shot at. Their attention turns to me and this gives the others just enough of a chance to make it to one of the exits.

Then a battle cry came out, I looked to the source and saw the same Falleen assassin that I had maimed before. Only it looked like she had gotten some work done and none of it good. She jumped off of the ledge, screaming with her emotions blaring as pure rage and hate fueled her. Eh… Qui-Gon already knows some of the truth. So, I reach out and pull the Falleen out of the air, and slam her back into a nearby pillar. However, as I glanced back to where the others were escaping I saw that a group of Lancer Droids and a unfamiliar IG Droid was following them. I panicked a bit and quickly reached out with the Force, straining against the self imposed bounds. I grabbed the discarded chunks of ruble and flung them at the entrance that they ran down. The IG droid reacted too quickly, it clearly was a advanced model. It dove forward and made it just in time. The others… not so much.

The blasting stopped and then the only sound came from the broken pillar. The Falleen Assassin groaned and pulled herself out of the stone. I pulled myself away into a corner of shadow and quickly began loosening my bounds. I made sure to only do in small amounts, too much and Qui-Gon might sense something. I need to use this Sith Assassin as a shroud, as well as the dampening effect Taris is having on his senses. But I still can only use at max fifteen percent of my power.

"No! No-No-No-Nooooo! He was mine! I could have gotten him and proven all to master!" The little Sith Assassin screamed like a child throwing a tantrum as she saw the way toward her target was blocked. Could she not lift those pieces herself… no… she can't. As my senses in the Force grew back a bit, I could sense her mind was a beehive of activity. A constant rhythmic shock of biting irritation and forceful rage flooded her every thought. This was not a Force User that could use her power for anything but attacking her enemy. Well, better give her a outlet for that aggression before she decides to have the droids start blowing shit up. Qui-Gon is gone and I have no doubt that he will be leaving my crew once this is said and done.

"Well what have we here?" I threw my voice to echo in the chamber, I sensed a sudden clarity in the assassin but then turned to a laser focus on me. "A naughty Sith assassin that can't seem to find what she wants? Throwing a fit like some bawling youngling not getting their favorite toy?"

"Come out here coward!" She roared with a fury of a thousand drunken frat bros wanting to prove their manliness. Honestly it was sickening to see such wasted talent. Falleen were such interesting possibilities, one born with the Force could become a great asset if trained properly. But this one? Arrogance and rage had spoiled her. "I will gut you and let your organs stain the floor, watch as you melt away in the sun's heat."

"Oh, I don't think you could. I doubt you could stand still long enough to do so." I mocked as I moved through the shadows, my body cloaked in the Force. I watched as she tried to sense me out but I was far too good at this and she was far to wild in the Dark Side's empty pit to find me. She did get a idea when I cut one of the remaining Lancer Droids in half. But then I was gone.

"You're him, the one from the space port. I knew you couldn't be some merc thug… when I kill you… surely my master will reward me greatly." She kept spinning around, search the shadows for me as the sounds of droids clanked to the ground destroyed. She was crazed, trying so hard to find me with all her senses but couldn't understand that they were conflicting with one another. She looked so alone, so scared and frightened… underneath all that snarling and rage. "It began with you… and it will end with you. This madness will end when I slit your throat."

"Have you gone mad? I'm afraid so, you are entirely bonkers." I chuckled as I slinked through the darkness, invisible to all her sights even though I was walking right up to her. "But I will tell you a secret…" With that I pulled my lightsaber out from its pocket in my leg. She sensed that active use in the Force and as I swung down and the red of my blade extended out she twirled back and blocked it with her own. "… all the best people are."

She roared again as she pressed her attack, her blade began its assault. Her moves were admittedly very coordinated for someone so clearly driven insane by the Dark Side. As I blocked and at times parried her strikes I was able to get a better understanding. With a roll to the side I moved into a blind spot that she should have if her senses were dulled by the madness infused Dark Side. I have battled enough of those that fall to the Dark Side to know how to fight them. There is a tunnel effect on their ability to see around them with the Force, when their prey is in physical sight the Force helps them track their movements. But if they suddenly vanish from that tunnel view, there is a delay that can be exploited. The Dark Side gnaws at both your visions and it makes it hard to focus until the prey is back in sight. It's a trick that is know only to those that have both the experience of delving into the Dark Side, and those that fight others that fall so deep into it.

"There you are!" She smiled a bit just before spinning on her heels and slashing the spot I had been in. Her response was too quick, their should have been a moment of disconnect and minor vertigo. I instead jumped a little into the air, just enough to dodge her attack and propel me into a Form Three stance. I now started going onto the attack. But then, fuck that was a bad idea. My eyes widened as the bright light of a second lightsaber filled my vision. A back swing on her part was bringing in another blade right at my face. It slashed at my helmet and nearly cut my face if not for the fact I had built the damn thing to survive a blow like that.

I pushed the air around be to launch myself back and the second I landed on my feet I outstretched my hand to send a blast of Force Lightning at her to scare her away. It did nothing. She held up both her lightsabers and kept the lightning from hurting her then flung the current to the side. That was a very advanced move and she did it like it was nothing. My mind raced with two conclusions, one… she had been training herself to hunt down someone with Sith abilities. Easy to understand who, Sidious. Second, she had not fallen to the Dark Side. Not completely, no… her rage came from somewhere else. This type of fighting, the ferocity and all out attack. It screamed of a Dark Side Berserker but she lacked the tunnel vision of me and she was perfectly capable of making defensive counter attacks.

She smirked at me, likely thinking I was now going to fall in under her spell given that my helmet was compromised. Good, it was my turn to surprise her. Instead of succumbing to the Falleen pheromones, I held up a finger and created a small crescent of purple energy, concentrated Force energy. The little Sith assassin looked mighty confused by this.

"One Arc Slice." Naming your attacks just gave that much of cool factor to it all, plus saying out loud before using it meant you always had that back pocket time for when you surprise your enemy by not doing so. I flicked my finger down and with that sent the arch of energy flying. It expanded vertically and cut through floor and ceiling alike. "Uhhhhh… oops?" I did not think my attempt to do my own spin on Freeza's finger beam attack would be that destructive. But whatever, the Sith Assassin fought against the blast of pure energy as she could, pushing with the Force to keep the arc of power from cutting into her. Eventually she managed to smarten up and dove to the side, not too gracefully I might add. The arc of energy blasted forward and cut deep into the wall behind her but she had worse things to worry about. The Sith Assassin only had a moment to look up before I kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying into a pillar… again. "You're a very curious woman you know that? Had you attempted to seduce me back the station you would likely been successful, unless this is what you really are. A waste of a pretty face that only seeks to destroy what's around her."

"I'll destroy you!" She roared as she pulled herself out of the pillar and leapt toward me. Our Lightsabers clashed once again. "How, how are you not drooling mindlessly from my pheromones?!" She demanded as we locked blades, she had swung with a scissor maneuver and I was holding her upper blade back with my lightsaber while pushing back down on her lower swing with the Force. She glared hard at me between the snapping lights of the red beams.

"Imagination is the only weapon in the war with reality." She growled as she could see my smirk through the cut in my helmet. Thankfully she couldn't actually see the sweat building up on my skin. I was only operating at fifteen percent and I was expending a lot of power right now. Holding back her swing, amplifying my strength to match her clearly augmented body, and on top of all that I needed to maintain the pressurized seal on my suit with the Force.

"I've had enough with your nonsense!" With that she pulled back, it gave me a chance to roll away from her follow up attack however I guess it was better than the stand still. She roared and readied for a new assault however she stopped mid attack, the look on her face was odd. Her eyes were empty and skin tightened. The adrenaline was running out, she had exhausted herself? This early? I caught her lightsabers out of the air and took them. Was this a trick?

"Has our trip down the rabbit role finally broken your poor mind?" I questioned as I stood back up and made my over to her motionless form. Turning her over with a gentle kick, I then crouched down to examine her further. The side of her face I had burned was completely covered in a face plate, and there were signs that there was further augmentation done to her head. I reached out with the Force, she wasn't faking. She was unconscious and her life force was weak but stable. "It's like she had been in a state of constant battle nerves… no way."

It was then that things made sense. I stood up and, staring at the prototype of General Grievous' cyborg brain. The one that turned him into a pure killing machine capable of the highest possible assaulting ferocity. But to me, it was more like a cruder version of the Butcher's Nails. The concept isn't too difficult to come up with. Make the brain always angry, resulting in something like a Dark Side Berserker but lacking some of its flaws. Problem it looks like with this is it was always on and set to max. The strain that this must have put on her is insane. I guess once she finally got to a real battle, the heat of the moment and even greater extremes of emotion were too much for her psychic to handle.

But now… what to do what to do? I doubt that she's going to be waking up any time soon. Which is a problem given that she's the only one that can tell me what the fuck is going on. A billion credits on her being the reason why Vette isn't answering my calls. I looked toward the collapsed entrance that the rest of my crew had escaped off to, then toward a thick wall opposite to the entrance. Priorities.

I outreached my hand and from it came a beam of energy that blasted through the wall, then another, and another, until at last sunlight was visible. On my way out I dragged the Falleen Assassin, she was my only ticket to get Vette and my ship back.


"Is that thing is following us?!" Dalla yelled as he tossed back his last Thermal Detonator, hoping that the explosion will either destroy the damn droid or collapse the hallway and get it to stop running after them. A loud bang and smoke filled the passage behind the group but much to their fear and disappoint out from the smoke was the threatening IG unit that had been dogging them.

"My lightsaber would be quite usefully right about now." Qui-Gon grumbled as he and the others turned a corner. As they pasted by more shaky ruble of the ruins, he brought it down behind them in the hopes of delaying the droid. Unfortunately, the Jedi managed to do more than just that. A echoing rumble rippled across the entire ruin and then as the ruble that Qui-Gon brought down fell, so too did a large section of the upper floors. The group made a mad dash away from the falling debris.

"Hey! Be careful jedi… we still need to get the fuck out of this place. Can't do that if we're all dead!" Dalla shouted back at Qui-Gon, the twins also yelling at him but in their own native language so it was beyond either of the two men there to understand their grievance.

"If we can find the Circlet of Saresh I will be able to amplify my powers in the Force and should be able to divine a way out of this place." Qui-Gon responded back knowing that this should be true. The Circlet was a ancient artifact of power, and now that Qui-Gon felt his spirit renewed and the haze of grief lifting he was sure that he could use that power to call a vision from the Force. One in which could show them the way out.

"I'd rather not rely on Jedi mumbo-jumbo but hell… that thing's our payday anyway." Dalla groaned as they all came to a stop. They were at a new intersection, to their right was a dark stairway leading downward, left was a stairway up but that was completely destroyed in part thanks to Qui-Gon's earlier actions. And then there was the continued hallway… with a locked blast door. "Please tell me someone here can open that thing and we won't have to go into the shadowy abyss of no return."

"We lack any equipment to cut or blast our way in, and I highly doubt that the internal mechanics are in any shape to open normally." Qui-Gon said in between his panting. He was more out of shape than he recalled. Not that he had tried to maintain his body in his time of drunken grief. The jedi glanced over his shoulder, the broken hallway they had left was empty… as far as he could tell. It seems that they had shaken their pursuer for now, but could and would change. "For now it looks to be we have one option."

With that Qui-Gon started down the flight of stairs leading into darkness. The twins both looked to each other and shrugged, then followed the Jedi down. Dalla just looked at the disappearing backs of his supposed comrades, then he looked back to the blast door and wished to any god listening it would open. It didn't. So with that, he groaned and ran down into the darkness hoping that they could get this all over with.


"Find the prisoner, we must-" The Lancer Droid never finished its order as its head was impaled with a vibro-knife. Down from the ceiling of the room they had stuffed her in, Vette climbed down and before the other Lancer Droid could shut the door, she shoved the piece of junk droid she I had just killed into the door's path. She then slipped out of the room and attempted to stab the remaining Lancer Droid only to have her arm caught by it.

"Cease, you have damaged Banking Clan property and will be punished to the full extent of Republic Law." The droid stated, the first half of that it had been pulling Vette off the ground but then once she was in the air she swung herself up onto the droid's shoulders. "Cease, you are damaging Banking-" The droid was also cut off as Vette pushed back on the nearby doorframe and sent the droid crashing to the ground. "- Clan property."

"Jeeze… you guys just don't shut up." Vette groaned as she hung off the ground and then landed back down with all the grace of a street cat. She had always been nimble and Naraiz had encouraged her expand her flexibility… often with a double meaning joke it. But she was a slippery foe to face and made sure to use every movement to her advantage. She quickly grabbed her dropped vibro-blade and made sure to finish off the Lancer Droid before it got back up. "Can't be just two here."

She was finally able to think clearly. Vette hated dealing with those that didn't play fair, Falleen always used their pheromones to fight dirty. It would have been nice knowing that they were dealing with one, something to bug Naraiz with later. But for right now she needed to clean the ship out of droids. She was in the main floor, the central chamber and all the doors were locked. The Gran and the brothers must be locked away in them just as she was. Letting them out now wasn't the best idea.

"Halt!" Vette turned around to see at the far end of the hallway to the brow of the ship, two more Lancer Droids were exiting her and Naraiz's room. "Prisoner, you are to be in your cell as state by codes…" Vette stopped listening as she scooped up one of the fallen droids blasters and began firing on the newcomers. They admittedly were somewhat smarter than normal battle droids and took cover in the side cargo areas that flanked the bow hallway. Vette backed up a bit and took cover in her former cell, making sure to keep her blaster level and trained on the right cargo room. Then, she began firing at the door once the droid stuck his arm out to fire on her. But she expected their plan, and threw her Vibro-knife at the droid that tried to blitz her while she was focused on the other.

Vette didn't have the advantage of the Force, instead she had years of experience fighting those that did. So pulling this off could only be done by someone with lightning reflexes and who was used to fighting those with even faster moves. Within a split second, Vette dashed out of her cover and ran toward the stunned Lancer Droid. She smashed her shoulder into its side while pushing in her embedded blade deeper in its chest. Then rolled forward as they came crashing into the floor, with perfectly trained precision she pulled up her blaster and fired several rounds into the other droid that had come out to finish her off. As it fell back down, smoking blaster marks in its body, Vette sighed and hoped that there would just be one more in the cockpit.

After her ride up the elevator, and then the opening of the doors, Vette felt great joy at seeing that yes in fact there was one droid. One droid that was killed immediately with a blaster bolt in its head. The Twi'lek then skipped her way over the pilot seat and shoved the hunk of junk out of her seat. She spun around a bit, allowing herself to feel great pleasure at the proof that even after several years on a feudal world she still had it. A little piece of her had been worried that her skills had gotten a bit rusty. While she wasn't the killing machines that Naraiz, Jaesa, or Broonmark were, or even the super duper soldier Pierce was, she was still a highly deadly combatant and capable agent.

"Ahh… I did miss this. Much better than that messy extraction." Vette sighed, pleased with herself as she set her feet on the dashboard of the ship. She supposed she should call Naraiz and tell him that she was okay. "Or… I can let him squirm a little. Nah, he'll do something stupid." Vette tapped several buttons on the side of the her chair and a holo-communication line opened up. The second it connected however was the second that the entire ship stopped moving and Vette was thrown forward a bit out of her chair. "What the fuck-"

She tumbled further as the entire shipped felt as if it had been ripped out of its current flight path. Vette rolled to the back of the flight chamber as the whole ship began a sudden and unplanned downturn back down to the ground. The force of whatever was pulling it down combined with the gravity of Taris caused Vette to slam into the back wall, unable to claw her way to the pilot seat and try to fight whatever this was. She knew it couldn't be a tractor beam, that would have been a hell of a lot smoother and she would have gotten an alert if that was happening.

"-Warning, ship velocity exceeding safe speeds for landing-" Vette felt herself begin to panic as the ship's automated systems were starting to blaring warning sirens.

"That idiot! He's doing this… I know it!" Vette was going kick him in the balls for this, it was romantic as fuck that he would pull down a ship from orbit to save her but it was one of the most reckless things he has ever done. And that was saying something. The warning sirens continued as Vette watched from the ship's viewing window the ground begin to get closer and closer. Then suddenly she was thrown off from the wall, the ship had not come to a complete stop but now was coming down much slower. "Ghh… yep… gonna kick him hard."

"-Ship velocity has returned to safe parameters, deploying landing systems now-" Vette dragged herself back to the pilot's chair and began running through the gambit of systems that she needed to check on given they had just done a crash landing without the splat part. There was a great thud as the landing gear hit the dusty ground of Taris, followed by someone forcing the ship's doors open, Vette smiled at Naraiz charging in to save her. Foolish and a little insulting to her ability to save herself but still sweat. She knew he didn't doubt her skills, only that he wasn't thinking right now. There was a difference between a man doubting a woman and them just doing something without thinking. One was forgivable because that was just men, the other wasn't because it was a sign a man was a condescending ass.

"Vette!" She heard him yell from the lower floor and ignored the sounds of him kicking around the junked droids. Then a maintenance hatch was popped open, sent flying up likely by a Force push. "Vette… thank gods you've- pph…" Vette said she would do it. And she watched as the most powerful Force User in the galaxy doubled over onto the floor after having his family jewels violently kneed.

"You could have warned me we would be dealing with a Falleen ya know." Vette grumbled as she walked back to the pilot seat. "By the way, where's the rest of the crew?"

"Gee… good to know you care so much about my valiant efforts to save you." Naraiz groaned as he continued to grumble in pain.

"I would have kissed you had you just called first before pulling that stunt, could have put on my seat belt. Also what if I hadn't trashed those droids yet, or what if you broke my neck in all that?" Vette responded back and all she got out of him was just a few groans. Rolling her eyes she began checking over the ship to see if there had been any damage done in the impromptu reentry.

"A simple thanks would have sufficed." He finished his grumbling before standing back up and hobbled his way over to her. "The others ran deeper into the ruin, I stayed behind and was able to make my own exit since the Jedi was gone. There's still a unknown amount of Lancer Droids and a IG unit I'm not familiar with."

"So you know what these things are?" Vette asked and assumed that this was another point in favor of his Meta knowledge. It was still weird to think that she and her entire reality was the basis of a entertainment franchise in another reality. But then again, she was smart enough to understand the idea of an infinite multiverse. Every reality that could be is. For right she just took it in stride.

"Assassin droids, made by the Banking Clan. Currently under the control of a Darth. The precursors to the IG droid line, very deadly and very smart. These guys… not so much. These droids are more mass produced and rank and file, still tougher than normal battle droids." Naraiz explained and Vette didn't like this but if those droids she killed before were so deadly then she felt a bit of pride in herself. "Right now we need to find the others, the Circlet, and get the fuck off Taris. I'm sick of this dust ball."

"I'll take off and do that deep scan you wanted, should be able to find the tracker we placed on the pirate." Vette smirked as she said this. They didn't trust Dalla at all, or at least she didn't. Naraiz seemed to have a fixation on him, she supposed this was more meta knowledge but she just didn't care this time. She only really did when it came to things trying to kill them.

"Good, I'll leave my cargo with here and you can do that." Naraiz said as he walked back into the elevator. The door closed before Vette could yell at him as she figured out what he meant by cargo.


"Can anyone see anything?" Emmi asked as they all kept to a wall in pitch darkness. The Jedi was leading the way as he sensed a path forward in the Force. The three others were skeptical but after a hour of noting dying or meeting that scary droid again they at least trusted him to keep that up.

"I can see nothing." Felli responded and Dalla gave out a deep groan of annoyance. They had been playing with him for the past half hour and it seems they were at his limit.

"Could you two not be yourselves… for five minutes!" Dalla shouted and was immediately shushed by the Jedi.

"Quiet, we're nearing something." Qui-Gon could feel a… slant in the Force. Something up ahead was disturbing the Force in such a way that it felt like a otherness was bleeding into the space. But at the same time there was a bright Light beyond this strangeness. It was like looking through many panes of glass, each of them slightly tilted back or forward as disturb the vision. They continued to walk forward, keeping close to the wall as to not lose track of each other.

They had not run into any more beasts or droids, the floor and air seemed to be devoid of any signs of the former and they hoped that the latter were all destroyed. The halls that they had come to were barren, even more so than those above. It was as if someone had come in and began stripping away anything that was not the floor or walls. Then, as they passed through a corridor in the hallways Qui-Gon felt something change.

"We're being watched." Dalla was the one to whisper the change they all felt. Qui-Gon extended his senses and the moment he did, something scuttered away. Just past where he could sense. "It's not a droid, with how quiet this place is, we would have heard its parts moving."

"Yes, but also not a beast. There's only one of it and those monsters were obviously pack animals." There was the chance that it was a different type of creature but Qui-Gon was certain that it was a sapient. The way it had felt in that split second in the Force he could feel a intelligence… although it wasn't a healthy one. "From here on out, we must be on high alert. If we are to leave this place, it is with the guidance of the Force."

"Yeah-yeah… keep going Jedi. Let's just hope that… huh?" Dalla stopped as he felt his foot kick something. Their vision had adjusted just enough to see in front of them, and so Dalla was able to pick up the first object they had come across in these tunnels. "Is this… a spoon?"

"A spoon?" The twins said together as they huddled closer to the pirate to see what he had in his hand. And indeed it was a spoon, carved from stone.

"The fuck is up with this place?" Dalla tossed the spoon down the side hall they had stopped at. Qui-Gon had motioned to stop him and even catch the object in the air with the Force but it was gone from his sight before he could. The stone spoon clattered about the hall until finally going silent. Dalla then looked back to the Jedi with a uncaring look on his face.

"I don't believe that was wise." Qui-Gon said as he looked back into the darkness. Nothing immediately changed due to Dalla's actions however, Qui-Gon knew that disturbing anything in places like this could invite danger. The Force was agitated here, something had disturbed it and coming in like a trampling Rancor would only lead to complications. He didn't know what was doing this but he supposed he would find out before this was done. "Let us continue on."

They continued onward, only to find more oddities. That came in the form of more carved spoons. In all shapes and forms but always in the same use of a spoon, most often coming in the design of a long pole with a smaller flat end. The further they delved into the ruin, the more piles of these things they came across. Moving around these piles as to not disturb them took quite a bit of work but eventually the darkness came to a end as small lit candles began showing up in the piles of carved spoons.

"Does this make any sense Jedi?" Dalla asked as they carefully moved between loose piles of spoons, this all screamed freaky to the pirate who was now seriously regretting getting involved with this. Pirating made sense, you find someone and take their stuff… that was simple enough. But here he was, crawling through a ruin on a dead world for a ancient Jedi thingy while surrounded by heaps of stone spoons, never mind the company he was keeping at the moment.

"No, this is clearly the product of a diseased mind." Qui-Gon said as he agreed with the pirate's feelings on what they were seeing. But that mattered little at the moment, the beacon of light in the Force was near. He could feel it so strongly now everything else was muted. And then they came to a partially closed blast door. It looked like only one could fit a time through. "I shall go first, Mr. Suul, you shall hold our rear."

"Nice way of saying going last and get eaten by some crazed cannibal." Dalla grumbled as he kept his blasters trained on the hallway that they had just come from. Not for a second did any of them feel like they weren't being watched. But they heard and saw nothing, it only added to a stress of the isolation. Dalla backed slowly as he heard the twins make their way through the blast doors. He reached inside, took his first step in and lowered his guard to pass though.

"NooOoooOoOooo!" Something screeched as it leapt from the shadows and clawed onto Dalla's exposed side in the blast doors. He screamed as whatever it was that was attacking him pulled and clawed at his body. A mangled garble of words and curses flowed out of the creature all while it scraped at the pirate.

"Get this thing off of me!" Dalla shouted as he gripped onto the edges of the doors trying to not get pulled into the tender touches of a madman. Felli and Emmi both latched onto Dalla, trying to pull him back but whatever was attacking him was bigger and stronger. The struggle went on until Qui-Gon focused his powers and Force pushed the creature away, the twins pulled the Corellian into the chamber with them. And before the creature could try again, Qui-Gon pushed with all his strength and forced the ancient blast doors to close just a little more. Long fingers slipped in and tapped all along the edges of the thin crack of space the doors now had. A yellow eye peered in and then was gone. "Gha… fucking bastard, if I find that ugh…"

"You need to calm down, you're bleeding and any movement could accelerate blood loss." Qui-Gon warned as he and the twins moved the wounded pirate down to the ground. His left side was covered in small cuts, most of which were very shallow and most of the damage was to his clothes. However, there was one large gash on his arm that was starting to bleed at a worrying rate. Qui-Gon was about to start doing what little first aide he remembered from his Jedi training but then the twins began doing so at a remarkable proficiency.

"Hey, what the hell do you two think your doing?" Dalla fidgeted as he was too used to the twins threatening bodily harm rather than helping him.

"Fixing you." Felli said as she pulled out a small vile of liquid from one of her pouches.

"The captain said you can't die." Emmi said she gaged him with a piece of torn clothing.

"So you won't." They dumped the vile on the open gash causing Dalla to scream in pain.

"No hold still." With that the twins tightly wrapped the now clean wound in wrapping ripped from Dalla's clothes. Something he was in too much pain to really protest about. "There, now that should last until we get out of here."

"Hopefully… or else your gonna get infected and die horribly." Felli finished off with a chirp and a happy smile that did nothing to make Dalla feel better. He grit his teeth one last time before the wrappings were finished and the twins left him now that their work was done.

"Well… now that that is finished, I believe it is time for us to find our quarry." Qui-Gon said as he ignored the yelling Dalla gave at this remark. The Jedi understood that the pirate was upset but there was a hum in the Force, something that was calling out to him. So Qui-Gon ignored everything else as he walked through the ruined bunker complex that bore ancient Republic icons. He also ignored the many more piles of carved spoons and skulls of the beasts they had been hunted by.

"Do you two have any idea what is going on with him right now?" Dalla asked as he held his wounded arm, it still hurt and he was pretty sure the bone was broken but at least he wasn't dying. The twins shrugged and they continued to follow the dazed Jedi through the bunker. The sounds of ruble being moved and rustling in the shadows startled them as they wondered if whatever had attacked them had other means of getting into the bunker. "Did anyone get a look at that thing? Know what's creeping around us?"

"I believe it was a Phindian." Dalla groaned at hearing that.

"The fucking beak lizards, annoying as all fuck to deal with. Can't for one second actually get to the damn point." The pirate had at times dealt with the so called free government of Phindar, more like a mafia disguising itself as a government. They dealt in mind altering drugs and not the kind that a person took for a good time. As a pirate he would always have to sell back any stolen goods from that world or risk one day drinking something that would turn him into a drooling moron. So to say he had good thoughts about Phindians would be very wrong. "Any ideas on why one is here and feral?"

"I'd say we would be lucky not to find out." Felli snorted and her sister nodded in agreement. The group moved through the ancient halls which progressively began to become more cave like. At first one might think they had reached beyond the structure of the ruin, but that would be wrong. Qui-Gon saw the littl3e details that spoke to the truth, that they were still in the bunker and that it only looked natural due to centuries of fallen ruble and then someone carving out tunnels of the debris. Small candles lit the way as they delved deeper and deeper into the tunnel until finally they came to its end, or at least they hoped it was. They stopped at a wall of strung bones that made a effective curtain. "The lair of the beast."

"Think we'll find anything valuable?" Dalla asked as he took several glances back. They hadn't seen a single fork in the road, it had been a straight tunnel once they left the bunker complex. If the one hunting them was going to attack, it wouldn't be an ambush… until they crossed the curtain of bones. "I still got one good arm, and I'm the best shot so I'll hang back and watch our exit." Dalla said as he turned around and unholstered his blaster pistol.

"Very well, but stay alert. This is their home, and they know it far more than we do." Qui-Gon warned and Dalla nodded in understanding. With that the Jedi and Dothraki twins entered the feral Phindian's lair. Insides was a mix of ruined metal furniture roughly organized with more piles of spoons and bones. But to Qui-Gon, the most important thing about this room was the fact the Force suddenly stilled as he entered it. He knew that the Circlet was here but he couldn't sense it anymore. "Try to avoid touching anything if you can, but search the place for the Circlet."

The Twins were already on it as Qui-Gon finished speaking. They both skipped into the room and began ransacking the various crates but they were just filled with more carved spoons. The Jedi sighed and entered in, his eyes scanning for anything that seemed important. They landed on a table, a mix of a workshop and a alter stood on it. He walked over to it and took in what seemed to be a place of importance in the room. It was the only place that could be called clean. On it was a carved nine pointed inverted star with a swirling symbol at its center. Then, at eight of the points was a small carved figure, made of hardened mud and bits of broken glass. Qui-Gon took a moment to look at the missing spot in the assembly, there it look like someone had repeatedly stabbed the spot where a ninth figure should be. Then surrounding the scene all over the table were cuts, all the same length and none of them parallel to one next to it.

Qui-Gon stared at the display, it was all too… complete to be a simple madness induced creation. The craftsmanship of the figures, while the materials were poor, the attention to detail in them was far more than some crazed feral minded person could give. He also sensed something from it, a tugging of the Force but from which direction he couldn't say. He also had this horrible feeling that it was being watched from different angels as he stood in front of the alter. In his investigation, he reached out to touch the ninth empty spot on the star, only to recoil in pain. He felt something claw at him in the Force and when he looked at his finger he saw that there were several shallow slashes at its tip.

"What happened, how?" Emmi asked as the twins reacted to Qui-Gon shouting in shock and pain. The event distracted them long enough for none of them to notice a unseen hatch in the ceiling pop open and a long limbed figure to slink their way into the room.

"I… couldn't feel the Dark Side. Whatever that is it is not Sith." In all his years as a Jedi, he had only ever known Sith artifacts to do something like this. Causing injury just from being touched, inflecting pain through the Force, those were things aligned with the Dark Side and the Sith. But that alter… it was empty in the Force.

"Once nine now three…" They all turned around to the raspy voice that startled them. "The Son, the Daughter, the Father… are all that remains of the Court of the Ones." The three stood their ground as the feral Phindain spoke. It was hunched over, its body even more gaunt than its species naturally was. Qui-Gon suspected it to be female, but its voice was so dry and cracked and its body so frail and thin that any markers of gender were lost on him. Perhaps another Phindain could tell the difference but the humans were too used to their own perception of gender forms to tell. "Four locked away upon a world lost to time. One vanished into the darkness of space, never to be seen again. And lastly… one killed in by envy eager to supplant."

"Do you have any idea what it's talking about?" Felli asked as she and her sister pulled their daggers out from their sides.

"I have… some idea." Qui-Gon said unevenly as he was only a little more informed than the twins were. He had read some ancient Jedi scripts that mentioned beings called Ones before, but that was a long time ago and there wasn't much on them to begin with. "Who are you?" Qui-Gon asked feeling that if the Phindain was feeling chatty than it be best to keep it that way for the time being.

"Once I was a researcher for the Syndicat, we were tasked with learning all of the other side. The mystic, the madness, the unknowable. The gangsters wanted weapons against the Jedi, and so brought us to learn all we could about the forbidden secrets not even the Jedi or Sith knew." The feral being started shuffling its way off to the back of the room. Qui-Gon and the twins slowly moved more to the door they had entered. Obviously this thing had more ways of getting around but it was better than just standing closer to the crazed loon. "What wonderous horrors we found, such secrets long since kept by nothing but the silent void."

"But clearly you didn't have much success finding a weapon against the Jedi, seeing that Phindar is still under Republic control." Qui-Gon said and the Phindain turned its head back to them and gave a knowing grin.

"Ah yes, the Syndicat didn't what they wanted… but it was by no means a failure." The creature said as it rummaged through one of the piles of spoons and then pulled out a broken data-slate. On its surface was carved several odd symbols. The creature then began to tap on it like it was still working, a bizarre parody of a researcher.

"What's with the spoons?" Felli suddenly asked much to Qui-Gon mutual curiosity though he knew that this was a bit more delicate to just ask in such a blatant manner. But the feral thing didn't seem to react badly, it just looked up from its… work… with a confused look on its face.

"Spoons are good for eating soup… I need many of them." It said in the most that's obvious type of voice. However there was a twitchiness in its eyes, a pleading look that was quickly quashed. It then refocused back onto Qui-Gon before anything more could happen. "I was given a message, a dire warning from a… interested party. I was sent to wait here, though I was told I had more time. Doesn't matter, a message I have for you."

"For me?"

"A man wielding the power of the Force would come looking for a relic long believed to be lost by those that knew of it. To this spot, here!" The thing shouted in glee and Qui-Gon was having a hard time believing any of this person's story. It was much more believable that it was just some nutcase someone dropped on Taris so they wouldn't be their problem anymore. But… that alter challenged that theory. "The message you must know! You must… oh… you must know it… but… oh dear… No! I know where!" The feral Phindain panicked and then dove under the alter table and pulled out a scribbled piece of heavy paper. "This was the first message." It said holding the paper out.

"odd no god." Qui-Gon barely was able to make out the words scrawled on the paper, it was dirty and the print had faded over many years. The Jedi looked up and the look on the Phindain's face was one of pure joy and enthusiasm. "You said this was the first message?" He said handing the paper back to the creature.

"Yes, the second I remember much better. Much more important. Don't trust old hags." Qui-Gon was now sure that the alter over there was merely a fluke. None of this made sense, these were the rambling of diseased mind tormented by isolation and trauma. "I have done it, I have given the message…" And just like that the Phindain took one of the many stone spoons on the ground. "… I can finally rest."

"Wait no!" Qui-Gon shouted as he sensed what was about to happen but it was too late. The Phindain shoved the spoon into its chest, stabbing itself in the heart and then fell backward. Qui-Gon went to its side while the twins watched on with a bored expression, Dalla meanwhile came into the room having heard the shouting. But it was too late, the moment that Qui-Gon checked its vitals it was already dead.

"Uh… what happened in here?" Dalla asked as he stared at the Jedi kneeling beside the thing that had mangled his side.

"Crazy thing talked crazy."

"Then killed itself."

"Oh… you guys find the score yet?" Dalla asked and then they watched Qui-Gon stand back up, in his hand was a band of silver. He had a sullen look on his face but with a deep breath it faded. The Jedi stared down at the Circlet of Saresh, this small band of metal was infused the power of the Light Side to degree that had been lost to the Order for millennia. It didn't dare put it on, he wasn't trained for that and he was sure that it might kill him. But what he did do is expand his senses, he felt the Force around him and using the Circlet as foci was able to see beyond what was in front of him. He could see the path they needed to follow, he could see so many futures laid out before him. "Hey! Jedi, you doing okay?"

"Oh… thank you." Qui-Gon said as Dalla's words brought him back to reality. Even just holding the Circlet was too much. He had begun to delve into the infinite pool of time unrestrained. Normally a Jedi could only see glimpses into the future, but that was as much a limitation as a safety precaution. "I know the way out, it shouldn't take us long to leave the ruins. There we can find our way to the campsite."

"Not much hope that it's still there. But it's as good a place as any to regroup." Dalla sighed knowing that Ulysses would find his way back. Dalla had come to understand what kind of man he was, the kind that had just too much damn luck on their side. The twins seemed to share this opinion in some form as they said nothing as they followed the men out of the tunnel.

They followed Qui-Gon out of the cave like area back into the bunker complex. The Jedi spent a moment to look at it more clearly, this was obviously some sort of ancient secret project… not one found easily. It wasn't the kind of thing someone just stumbled upon or even could attain knowledge of if they had access to the proper channels. Ulysses said that he was working off the studies of the last man hired to find the Circlet, that was a flimsy answer and the Jedi knew it. There was more going on here but Qui-Gon didn't have the motivation to delve deeper. All he wanted to do was go back to Tython and do some soul searching. He needed to ask some hard questions to himself and the masters.

"Light! I see light!" Emmi shouted as from above a ray of moonlight filtered in from many holes in the ceiling.

"We're getting closer, up next should be a ruined atrium. We will find a window that opens to a buffering dune that we can roll down and out of the ruins." Qui-Gon said as they walked through the dusty hallways. The feeling of freedom from this whole ordeal was just in their grasp. They had spent many hours being hunted by all manner of things and they were looking forward to leaving these ruins and hopefully soon this planet. They came into the ruined atrium, large chunks of super structure had fallen in and there were massive piles of gray sand everywhere.

"Alright, looks like we're home free-" Dalla was stopped as Qui-Gon held out his arm to stop him from going forward.

"Something's not right. This isn't how I saw it." Qui stared at several piles of ruble that were scattered throughout the atrium. With a Force Push he sent the nearest unusual pile into the air and they could see the underside was covered in Thermal Detonators. The trash pile exploded in the air and caused the entire ruined structure to creek with strain. "Seems we are not alone." Just then Qui-Gon pushed the other three out of the way as several blaster bolts were fired at them from a unseen spot higher up.

"That fucking droid is still kicking. Really hoped he had been crushed before." Dalla growled as he held his still wounded arm.

"Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, I have been given your termination orders. Step out to receive your final notice of life." A droid's synthetic voice echoed in the ruin. Qui-Gon's mind was trying to work just why an assassin droid was targeting him… or more accurately who sent it after him. He for a moment thought about using the Circlet to divine that answer but knew that might draw him into a stupor, during which the droid would relocate and have a better shot on him and his allies. He knew what he needed to do, and he was ready.

"The three of you will escape to that window-" Qui-Gon pointed to a broken window on the far right of the atrium. "- and escape while keep the droid distracted."

"Good plan, thanks a lot." Dalla said and was hit in the stomach by Emmi. "Hey."

"You're going to need this." Felli said as she pulled out her Vibro-knife. Qui-Gon accepted it knowing that while it wasn't a lightsaber it was better than nothing. The twins nodded to each other and then dragged Dalla out at the same time that Qui-Gon raised a slab of concrete to protect them from the blaster bolt that was fired. The Jedi then ran out of cover and immediately the shots were targeted right on to him. Using all his training and powers with the Force, Qui-Gon dodged the bolts while at the same time lifting up the booby trapped piles of ruble and throwing them in the rough direction as the shots were coming from. However, with each explosion, the entire ruined mega tower groaned and soon pieces started falling from the vibrations of the explosions shaking the structure.

But in the process of all this, Qui-Gon was able to find the Droid in all this chaos. In a small moment, he pulled a bit of power from the Circlet on his belt, just enough to propel him into the air and land on the floor that the droid had been hiding on. With a roll to behind a broken pillar, he dodged another blaster bolt from a nearby ruined office section. He once again ran out of cover and Force pushed the crumbling walls that the droid hid behind, toppling them. He saw it, the droid's large frame fell back and its sniper rifle scattered away and off the nearby ledge. Qui-Gon leapt forward, his gifted Vibro-blade in hand and intended to end the droid in one slash. It was faster than expected, and the vibro-knife was met in kind by a vibro-blade extending out of the droid's forearm.

"Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, your termination's down payment has already been processed. Please do not invalidate this payment, the paperwork is quite extensive." The Jedi honestly couldn't tell if the droid was trying its best at expressing humor but its comments were beginning to get on his nerves. He pushed down on the swing he had made trying to overpower the droid's artificial muscles but to no avail. Didn't matter, buying time was more important. "I know what you are trying to do, and it is pointless. My directive does not express that additional deaths are needed… however." A much larger explosion detonated at the exact window that Qui-Gon had told the others to go to. "Their deaths increases the odds of yours dramatically."

"No!" Qui-Gon shouted as he flinched away from the bright flames of the plume of fire that had just engulfed his allies. It was happening again, his actions and his arrogance caused needless death and suffering. But this time would be different. He reflexively blocked the counter attack the droid had attempted with Qui-Gon's senses suddenly blinded. He began drawing more on the Circlet for power as he and the droid began dueling.

The Jedi was at a disadvantage being without his weapon of choice, his emotions flailing about, and the increasing dulling of his mind due to him diving ever deeper into the Force thanks to the Circlet. He know understand why the Jedi stopped using tools like it, it gave them access to the Force in volumes too great for anyone not used to it. More and more reality started to feel less real. He supposed that it was only thanks to the adrenaline of a life or death fight that was keeping him grounded. With ever strike and counter he made with the assassin droid he felt as if he was pulled back out of an ocean and then would immediately sink back down. It was taxing to say the least.

"Your file suggested that you would be a far better combatant, it will need to be further updating after your termination." The droid spoke before it changed up its attack pattern, surprising Qui-Gon and delivering a side kick sending the Jedi into a outer wall of the ruins. Ruins that were no in a total state of falling apart. That last explosion was the final straw and now large chunks of the tower were falling into the ground. The droid walked over and loomed over a gasping Qui-Gon. He was certainly not at his fittest and that kick had been given right into his liver… a liver that been working overtime for quite a while now. "The Banking Clan will ensure that any assets you hold with us will be distributed per your on file will. Thank you for your business." It said as it readied to deliver the final blow. It never came.

Qui-Gon felt the wind blow hard against the back of his head and watched as the droid was pushed back by a unseen force. The jedi turned back and saw the Chilling Sound's thrusters directed toward him, then the ship turned, its side doors open with Ulysses there.

"Come on! I've had enough of this trash heap!" He shouted with a look of mad gleam in his eye. Instinct drove Qui-Gon as he hurried back up and took a few steps back before running off the edge of the ruins into the air. He caught the treasure hunter's hand but the assassin droid caught his waist. The bulk of the heavy droid strained on his body and Qui-Gon had to guess Ulysses was using the power of the Force to keep his grip tight on the Jedi.

"I will not fail in my mission!" The droid shouted as it made a risky move and pulled its blade arm away from its clutch. In the span of a few seconds, the droid attempted to stab Qui-Gon in the back before it lost its grip on him. But just like before it never came, Qui-Gon didn't see it happen but before the droid could impale him its arm was sliced off. He just blinked and now the droid was falling back, its arm falling away from it.

"Don't think about it, just get in!" Ulysses shouted as he started to pull Qui-Gon up. This broke the Jedi's thoughts and brought him back to the immediate danger of possibly falling to his death. Only once he was safely on the Chilling Sound did the fatigue his body felt catch up with him and he passed out.


"-Report IG-99.-" Darth Sidious said as he flickered into view on the holo-communicator in the droid's hand. It was walking through the gray dunes of Taris searching for its lost arm.

"Objective completion has been delayed. However acquisition of unknown Jedi asset has been achieved." The droid lowered the holo-communicator so that its lord could see the Circlet of Saresh tied to its waist.

"-A most interesting find, this does bring questions of how they were able to find such a prize. But that matters little if they are to be eliminated.-" Darth Sidious stated as IG-99 brought him back up to viewing level. The droid scanned both the dunes and the skies, the signal was still within range. It looked like they might be circling back to find the stolen Circlet. "-Clarify your previous statement on the current status of your mission.-"

"Assassin Hammer asset has been taken aboard the target's vessel. Authorization is needed to complete objective." IG-99 said uncaring about the consequences of the plan it was currently undertaking.

"-Procced, my master will not miss that failure of an assassin.-" The Sith sneered and IG-99 nodded in acknowledgement. First it bent down to grab it severed arm and then looked up to the sky. It was incapable of emotions however, it did feel a analog of joy… no… satisfaction at the sight of a large explosion in the sky. The Sith asset was subpar and deserved to be disposed of, and the target and its allies were difficult and had damaged its chassis.

"Detonation has been confirmed, returning back to ship for extraction orders."


"Admit it, you were thinking she was going to become a support character weren't you?" I asked with a sly grin to Vette as we looked out the closing cargo doors of the ship. Having just tossed out the boobytrapped assassin just a few moments ago.

"A little… you do have a weakness for both women and sob stories." Vette responded back as the doors closed and we started walking back to the main deck of the ship. She wasn't wrong, but that Falleen could never have been turned. She was a fanatic and while her cybernetics could have been useful to study, they completely ruined her. No, I don't believe that she would have made a good fit. "But, do you think that they bought it?"

"I activated the Chilling Sound's extra cloaking systems the moment the explosion happened. Between that and the interference the detonation caused, I think we can assume we gave them the slip for now." I mostly sure about that. My ship's tech was very old but thanks to the advancement stagnation in Star Wars it wasn't too bad. Plus that was a fucking nuke in her! The radiation discharge from that should mask the fact we survived anyhow.

One thing I will have to remember is how insane Plagueis is. Putting a god damn nuke in someone along side some seriously brutal rage cybernetics, that's some next level Sith shit. I don't know if that's just Plagueis being Plagueis or if this AU version of him is just that much more evil. Either way, its something I'll have to contend with eventually. My little slip to him probably has him more guarded around Sidious… that is if he listened. But that was future Naraiz problems.

"Hey!" Now me had to deal with problems of the present. "We just entered the atmosphere, what about the whole damn reason we came to this place!" Dalla shouted even as the doctor droid patched him up. How should I use this? Qui-Gon is out, should I make him think that the twins and Dalla are dead? That would certainly fit with my plans for the pirate. But… that might send him right back to depression. Eh… I figure it out once he wakes up.

"The reason why we came here was so that I could fix the Jedi and get him out of here." I said as I walked over to the twins. They weren't to hurt by the explosion but I still wanted to make sure. They certainly liked my extra attention. "Now that I've made sure that he'll not go back to the bottle, we can part on good terms on some station. I have other artifacts in storage that I can sell to offset the loss of the Circlet. You'll get your money."

"Well good, I've fucking earned it." Dalla grumbled, oh you poor boy… you have no idea what I have planned for you.

"Doctor droid, keep Qui-Gon under until we arrive." I ordered as I and Vette walked to the elevator. As it closed I frowned as I began to think about the next stage of my plans. I had several places to go now that I could act without Qui-Gon watching me. The Circlet had been on my list but I had planned o get it much later. There were far more important things I needed to check on. But be that as it may… personal business must be attended to.

"You're thinking about her aren't you. Impressive that the ship isn't crashing because of it." Vette said with a sympathetic smirk. I was being childish before, thankfully this little adventure took my mind of it and even my talk with Qui-Gon made me realize a few things myself. If I'm going to be a father than I need to be a better man for that child. It's happening, and can't and won't change that.

"I'll stand by my original orders, if Jaesa wants some time to herself during this time… I let her. But, that changes when my child is born."


Reviews

Starlord Master - We will be seeing more of him, the IG droids are very interesting and I like this cooperate suit in a deadly droid body idea I have going on with him. The Gunk droid

Reads too much - I sir am a proud Slaaneshi Tech Priest so I say good on you for that. The Hutts do have their own part to play in all of this. I have too plans for them, the gangster plan and the monster plan. I don't know which one I'll use. I think I did a decent job at setting Qui-Gon back to default Qui-Gon status, now he knows of Naraiz, as Ulysses, and that sets up a important point for later on in my plans.

DahankStaz - Thank you, some good action happens and also some crazy nonsense too. Sheltered Jedi are always fun to fluster.

guest - Naraiz is at this point has clamped down on his power considerable as to not tip off Qui-Gon. So no, he actually can't sense Vette given the distance.

AO Black - He's not actually actively doing that. One of the Runes on the Red Woman is like a idea broadcaster, and the other is a Naraiz influencer. So while all of this is something that he wants, its also getting filtered by Melisandre's own thoughts and her beliefs and getting projected on people around her. Naraiz is kinda aware of this of not to its full extent given that he's been away and hands off for quite some time now. But yes, if it ever starts to devolve to a dangerous level then he will step in and try to curb it... a little.

Kalvernus - Oh... we got a big one. Well, I hope that this chapter shows that Vette is not totally useless. But yeah, Naraiz should have prepared better, thus his little punishment. As for the meat for your review, your pretty much right on the money with the Vette and Jaesa angels of it. The reason why Pierce did what he did was for three things, one he was fucking scared shitless of Jaesa. He has seen and her do horrible things to the men she has slept with, and in the state she was in he wasn't sure if she was sane enough to not do any of that because he rejected her. Two, once the deed was done, a inner part of him let it keep happening so that way eventually he could do what he did and help her snap out of it. Three, this Peirce I have made has a background where wild party girls tend to be his type, much as he dislikes that now. This will come back up but for right now it caused a lasp in judgement. Eh... the Fay thing. I'm still on the fence about that. I'm more open to it than before but I'm still not sure.

- thank you... I hope the google translate got that right.