Last time: Sasha and Oppie were chased by a vornskr and managed to get to safety.

Now: Cien and Viran try to reach out to Sasha again.

Chapter 6- Disconnected

Cien was in the odd position of having to try to cheer Viran up through their travel to Nivon Five. They have received a message from Kitsu and Illara that they had a possible lead they were following up on, and it would take a day or two for them to reach the office of the bounty hunter they had described finding some evidence of. Lacking any other plans, Kyr, Cien and Viran pressed ahead to Nivon Five since they were already en route, and were due to arrive within the hour. The thought was that if there was any more news turned up from the investigation, they would be there to follow up on it, in case Kitu and Illara's lead ended up being a bust.

And so for the last day and a half of their transit, Cien, Kyr, Tac and QT had been staying with Viran, who was anxiously trying to connect with Sasha in the Force and locate their friends. Kyr was now in the cockpit, and Tac and QT had been banished to the engineering compartment in the back of the ship where their bickering would go unheard. Cien was in the lounge with Viran finishing up a game of dejarik. She was in her full armor, though her helmet was set aside.

Viran moved his figure as he looked at the game board in a haze. He wasn't even focusing on the game. He was just moving his figures when it was his turn or when Cien would remind him. After he moved his pawn, he left himself wide open for Cien to win and by the look on his face, it wasn't intentional.

Cien looked at him worriedly, not at all sure what to do. The thought stayed in the back of her mind that last time something like this had happened to him, she had been the one responsible for it. Which was why she felt the need to be the one to stay by his side now, especially after the help he had given her when Kyr had been missing after the events on Caranas.

She ignored the dejarik game and spoke up. "Do you want to see if we can contact Sasha again? If she's conscious she might be able to hear us this time." She suggested. She was loath to try that again after how sick the last time she had tried had made her. But both of them, especially Viran, were worried about Sasha and Oppie, and it would be worth it to see if they were both okay.

Viran looked up at her, coming out of his daze. "Huh?" He then registered what she said. "Oh, yeah. Yeah I would like to. I just… I need to know she's okay."

"Me too." Cien agreed, "give me your hand." She asked, reaching out to him.

Viran reached out and grabbed her hand. As before he appeared in the familiar darkness, and Cien walked to him. She braced herself slightly, and concentrated, using Virans connection and her own to find that faint wisp of Sasha's presence, which usually shone like a bright beacon.

"Here." She said, gesturing for Viran to follow her, just like before. She already felt the migraine building, but it would be worth it to know what was currently happening with Sasha.

"Are you sure you are okay to do this again?" Viran asked as he followed after her. "I should have asked you before we entered. I was just… out of it."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Cien responded, "we both need to know she's okay." She said quietly as Viran walked at her side. "I don't think I could do this without being able to use your connection to her as well. Whatever Force suppressant they are using is almost perfect."

"I was curious about that," Viran commented. "Have you ever heard of suppressants like this before?"

"No." Cien replied, "back during my time, both sides of the war had efforts to try to find Force suppressants, and the Bloodstorm had the best we could come up with, and it was supposedly better than whatever the Republic might have developed because the Jedi Council didn't really like their program that much." She said, "and you experienced that, it was more a fogging effect than anything else, even with a strong dose. This is something different. Maybe something that was developed in the last three thousand years, maybe Palpatine's doing." She thought out loud. "But no, I don't know anything that's this perfect." She said, as they continued towards where she felt Sasha.

Viran frowned at that. "That doesn't make me feel better," he stated, his voice laced with concern. "But whatever it is, let's hope it wears off. Hopefully soon."

"Yeah." Cien agreed. "Maybe there's an antidote like what the Sith Empire had so we could be immune to it. When we get Sasha and Oppie back we can do some research on it." Cien said hopefully.

"I like that idea," Viran said with a nod.

"Kitsu and Illara seemed confident in their lead." Cien continued, as they walked. The distance to Sasha seemed like it stretched forever. "Hopefully we'll get them both back soon."

"Yeah, hopefully," Viran agreed. He frowned as they kept walking. "See anything yet?"

Cien squinted, looking into the distance and saw a faint presence. Trying to act as a bridge for this was taking a toll. "There." She said with a slight grimace. And then the presence faded out, which puzzled Cien.

"What was that?" Viran asked, confused.

Her presence faded back in and Cien looked on quizzically. They were close enough they could make out Sasha's form. Still ghostly, still transparent, but she was walking, with the faint impression of a forest around her, and it looked like she was talking to someone. Then she started to fade out again.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Viran asked, really confused. "Why do we see her one second and not the next?"

"It's like she's passing in and out of something." Cien said. She thought for a moment. "Maybe the Force suppressant isn't a drug, maybe it's some kind of interference field? But…" She paused, "no ones been able to interact with the Force like that, technologically."

Sasha started fading back in again as she continued to walk and talk with someone, most likely Oppie. Viran bit his lip as he thought about it.

"I've never heard of something like that," he said as he looked at his wife before she faded out again. "This is strange."

"At least we know she's okay." Cien said around a grimace, "and I can't imagine her talking to anyone and being that relaxed in this situation unless it was Op with her." Cien voiced aloud. She grimaced again and spoke louder as Sasha seemed to appear as brightly as she could. "Sasha, can you hear us?" Cien said in an almost yell. She grimaced again after.

But Sasha didn't respond. However, there was a brief flicker in her eyes as if she heard something. Viran felt his heart flutter at that as it gave him a sense of hope.

"I think she can or she could for a moment," he said, hopefully.

"Do you want to try calling out to her?" Cien asked.

"Sure," he said before clearing his throat. "Sasha! Can you hear me?"

She had the same reaction, but this time she did look around trying to find out where it was coming from. Then Sasha faded out again.

"Viran." Cien said shakily, "I'm sorry, I can't hold this." She said finally, closing her eyes and bringing her hand up to cover her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Viran looked to Cien with a worried gaze. "Okay, it's fine. I know she is fine. Let's go," he said as he placed a hand on her arm.

Cien gasped slightly as she came back to the lounge of the Shadow Runner. It felt like someone was driving a drill through her head. And as she brought her hand up shakily to cover her eyes from the assault of the lights, a few drops of blood from her nose made her palm sticky. Viran quickly came around the table and sat down beside her.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, concerned.

"Yeah." She said weakly. "I'm going to go rest I think." She said quietly.

"Do you need me to grab you anything?" Viran asked. "Or would you like a hand? I feel bad for making you go back in there."

"It's okay." She said as she stood up, a little unsteadily. "We both needed to make sure she was okay. And she heard us." Cien said. "I just need to rest for a little while. If you could find the painkillers they might help." She said as she started making her way to the quarters she was sharing with Kyr. She looked at the drops of blood in her palm a little worriedly, she had never had that kind of reaction to going into the mindspace. But she had never had to try so hard to reach someone before, nor been so worried about someone to try. Except for when Kyr had been missing, but there had been nothing to find, then. Nothing to concentrate so hard on. She reached the door and opened it, the sound of the servos were like a wave of pain as the door opened and closed. She turned the lights off and sat down on the bed in the almost total darkness.

After a few moments, there was a knock at the door to the quarters. "I left the painkillers out here. And I brought you some water," Viran called through the door.

She got up and went to the door, opening it. "Thank you." She told Viran.

"Of course," Viran said as he handed her the medication and water. "And thank you for helping me through this. I'll let you rest now." He then left her alone.

"Viran." She said quietly as she winced, and he started walking away, "you were there for me after everything that happened, it's the least I can do." She said from behind her awful headache.

He looked back and smiled. "Well thanks," he said before heading for the cockpit.

She just nodded and stepped back, wincing again as the servos closed the doors. She swallowed the pills and sat back on the edge of the bed in the darkness.

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