Chapter 20

Foyi awoke slowly, dredging herself up from a dark, formless miasma of memory, supposition, fear, and pain. She felt as though she had been submerged in liquids dark, cold, and viscous, not unlike the sensations that ran through her body when she called upon the Force, but this had been a disparate experience, an entirely different state of mind. She kept seeing recurring images of Tama's face, twisted into a grimace of fear, anxiety, and pain. She always seemed to be directly by Foyi's side, staring at her with eyes shimmering in unshed tears, her mouth forming words that Foyi could never quite discern. She reached for her sister, desperate to grab onto some part of her, to bring Tama close to her and never let her go again. But even though Tama's face floated barely above the ocean of black, turgid waters within centimeters of her own, she could never get a grip upon her, for a rogue current would sweep between them and carry Tama away, further and further into the darkness until she disappeared entirely. Foyi would knife her arms through the waters, praying that she would have the strength to reach her sister, but the waves kept washing over her head, breaking her line of sight, the undertow reaching up with cold, unfeeling fingers and pulling her down into the depths.

It took Foyi an inordinate amount of time to realize that she was awakening, that the frightful dream world she seemed to have spent an eternity in was giving way to reality, a reality that confused her. She became aware that she was blinking her eyes, though the lids felt like durasteel shutters with faulty servos, and in those intermittent flashes between cool darkness and blinding, illuminated details, she expected to see rugged, blaster-scarred stone walls of the tunnels within Resh 9376's bowels. She half-expected to see a Hutt leering over her, Yuelo's infuriated gaze tempered only by an expression of sadism as he considered all the horrid fates he might subject her to. Instead, she was becoming aware, lying on her back, in a room with bright lights and white walls. She flexed her fingers and began to move her hands, and felt the digits close upon folds of cloth instead of smooth or jagged stone. There were blankets or sheets of some kind spread over and under her body, and a soft material she belatedly identified as a pillow beneath her head, her lekku splayed out to either side of her temples. Weakly, she attempted to sit up, grimacing in anticipation of the injuries she was just beginning to remember suffering, only to groan at the severe aches and rigidity in her spine and limbs, aches that were born of recently healed and under-utilized bodily functions and muscles, instead of debilitating wounds, bruises, and fractures. She groaned again as the room began to come into focus, revealing a small chamber with glowstrips and lumas set to a comforting level, only having seemed so blinding before because her eyes had not fully adjusted to the sudden illumination. She was lying upon a modular bed, able to take on multiple configurations to accommodate almost any humanoid species that may require its use. Beside her sat several consoles running medical diagnostics, displaying lifesigns and monitoring medical readings, scrolling by on the myriad screens, and only a moment of focus upon the terminals revealed that the lifesigns belonged to her. That revelation allowed her to jump to the conclusion that she was in some sort of hospital room of a med center, though that did not tell her exactly where she was in the galaxy.

She craned her neck to look to her opposite side, and slouching in a chair beside her, fervently reading from a datapad, was Rayf. He looked tired, disheveled, and his eyes were rimmed in red, as though he had found little sleep. Despite his haggard face, his thin hair was combed and kept well-groomed, and he wore a tunic, vest, sash, and soft pants of immaculately-kept clothing in colors of crimson, silver, and brown that called attention to the composition of the whole outfit and the wearer's attention to coordinated fashion, but were muted enough to not be too obtrusive. A vague memory buried deep in Foyi's subconscious identified the style as Tapani, and the way the cloth was cut suggested that Rayf was a man of great wealth and means. Privately, she thought he looked ridiculous, and in a sudden surge of panic, looked down at her own form, fearful that she had been dressed in something equally outrageous. She sighed almost inaudibly to find her torso covered by a lengthy medical tunic that wrapped about her form in a helical fashion, belted closed by a thin sash that could be undone quickly if need be. She was uncomfortably aware that she wore only a soft pair of undershorts beneath, and pulled the robe about her chest a little tighter in a self-conscious attempt at preserving her modesty, though nothing of her breasts had been revealed as far as she could ascertain.

Rayf's gaze absentmindedly slid up from his datapad, and with a start, he dropped the device and jumped to his feet, both worry and relief starkly warring for dominance upon his facial features. "Foyi! Thank the Force!" He reached down and gripped her hand, and she could feel how badly he was shaking.

Foyi opened her mouth to speak, but her voice failed her, coming out as only a dry croak. Rayf spun around and snatched a plasti-pak from a tray beside her bed, extending a straw from its corner and handing it to her. She hesitantly brought the straw to her lips and partook of the liquid within, finding it to be cool, refreshing water, and she drank deeply of its contents, until the plasti-pak had completely collapsed in on itself from lack of volume and the suction of her lungs. Rayf excitedly took the spent container from her and discarded it on the tray once more as Foyi cleared her throat. Her voice, when it finally emerged, was little more than a whisper, but she was confident in her enunciation. "Rayf? What happened? Are we still in Point Nadir?"

Rayf made a slashing motion with his hand, even though her words had not carried far. "Probably best not to mention where we actually were, Foyi; everyone who needed to know where we come from thinks we're out of Fondor."

Foyi coughed, trying to clear her throat. She eyed Rayf's outfit skeptically. "Thus the getup?"

Rayf looked down at himself, as though he had just noticed he was wearing something beside his worn and bloodied spacers' outfit. He grinned sheepishly. "Tapani fashion. Looks ridiculous, I know, but it also makes me look rich, and between this outfit and a few favors, we were actually able to dock and get you the medical attention you needed. You have to have accounts and assets totaling at least ten thousand creds before they even consider letting you dock here."

Foyi gave him a bewildered look, and glanced about the room, though she saw no viewports or windows that showed the outside. "Where exactly is here?"

"We're on the Wheel, one of the greatest gaming and gambling destinations in the whole galaxy," came his response. "Or so all the ads keep telling me and everyone else who moves through this station. Oh yeah, it's a space station, in case you're wondering, where you can win and lose entire fortunes in a single hand of sabacc. Though, like all such places, it's the House that actually wins." Foyi gave him a truly discombobulated look, but he raised his hands to forestall any questions she was undoubtedly about to ask. "We're here because it's about halfway between where we were and where we're heading, and you needed a lot more than a couple medkits and bacta patches."

Foyi rubbed her hands over her face, which felt strange to her, her skin tender, the bones beneath feeling as though they were no longer truly firm but rubbery. Most likely the ghost of painful sensations earned when the Mandallian Giant had struck her multiple times in the face. "How long have I been out?" Though she asked the question, she almost wished he would not answer her, for she knew that no matter what he said, she would dread the response.

Rayf made a show of considering her question. "One or two days?"

"How long, Rayf?"

"Okay, so maybe, by some small chance, it might have been four days. You really needed the rest; I don't think you were getting enough sleep before that Mandallian was busy trying to turn your brains into Deneelian fizz-pudding."

Foyi began trying to lever herself out of bed, kicking the tangled sheets and blankets aside, though her legs felt as though they were experiencing higher gravity than the rest of her body, and thus were not cooperating. She cursed as she did so, muttering, "I've been sleeping too damn long. Tama's waiting for me; she's in pain and terrified, I can feel her..."

Rayf put a calm but firm hand to her shoulder, and though she wanted to fight his grip, she was too weak to do so, and flopped back on the pillows. She turned an angry gaze his way, but the stern look on his face brooked no argument. "Foyi, I want to help Tama, too, and I realize we've lost a lot of time, time that may prove detrimental to us and her. But you couldn't even keep yourself upright, and Felucia is not the kind of world that you can simply sleep your way through. You needed medical supplies and expertise I did not have, or you would have died from your wounds, and that would help absolutely no one. Look, now that you're awake, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure the hospital gets you released, including carrying you out of here while shooting everything that gets in our way, if necessary. I'm sure you think you're ready to go, but you're not back to full-throttle yet, are you?"

Foyi was about to protest, raising her arm to jab a reproachful finger his way, but the motion only served to aggravate the barely healed injuries to her ribs, and she could not stop an agonized gasp from escaping her lips. She grimaced as Rayf gave her a patient, long-suffering glance. "So I'm not back to full strength, okay?" she muttered, more angry with herself than with Rayf, the emotion motivated by her fear for Tama and the ever present awareness of time slipping by, time Tama most likely did not have. She could not ignore the dreams, the hazy images of Tama slipping away into the choppy, turbulent darkness, out of her reach before she could catch hold of her. "But we can't just sit here, Rayf. The Shepherd isn't going to wait for me to get 'full-throttle' again before he, or she, or it does whatever horrible thing they have in mind for Tama. Look, I'm good enough to at least walk...I think. I can do further healing on the way to...Felucia, was it?"

Rayf scrutinized her, then sighed, levering himself out of his seat with a sigh of exertion. "Alright, Foyi. I'll get the doctors to let you out." He strode across the room, then passed through the sliding door and disappeared for several, long moments. Foyi did not remain idle during this time, but instead focused on kicking the rest of the sheets and blankets off her body, then extricating herself from the bed. With a groan, she planted her bare feet on the cold floor and settled her weight upon them, pushing off the edge of the bed and standing upright. Her legs protested and gave out immediately, and she would have sprawled across the floor had the bed not been there to catch onto. She tried again, reaching through the lingering haze of anesthetics and bacta to call upon the Force, and breathed an audible sigh of relief feeling it wash over her, submerging her in its cool and calming waters. The Force filled her limbs and her body, and she felt strength returning to her legs, keeping her upright. She pushed off the bed again, and this time, she remained standing while her senses sharpened, granting her a metaphysical impression of the room. Now she could hear the pervasive humming vibrating through the walls, floor, and ceiling, the exterior sheer created by the revolving space station spinning through the void of space. She could feel countless minds and presences beyond her own, the nearest in various states of pain, comfort, and recovery, while those further beyond were embroiled in emotions of excitement, loss, anticipation, fear, resolve, greed, and borderline hysteria. The avarice, lust, apathy, and affluence here was like a slimy, turgid wave of broiling water catching her full in the face, and she had to steady herself once more as she found a way to arise above it, to insulate herself from the vice that practically dripped from the atmosphere itself.

Foyi was still clearing her head and looking about the room for a change of clothes when Rayf returned through the door, followed closely by a human female with pale skin and short, neatly-kept blond fur upon her head, curling at the ends just above her shoulders. She had an air of superiority and aloofness about her that Foyi instinctively picked up on, as though the woman believed herself to be the most important and interesting person on the entire space station. She was dressed in a lengthy medical smock and jacket that was painfully white, and she carried a medical datapad in her hand, barely looking from it as she entered the room. When her imperious gaze fell upon Foyi, she arched a single, perfectly-sculpted brow in puzzlement. "You're standing already? I hardly find that wise, for someone who was in your condition."

Foyi took a careful step forward. For some reason, it was important to her to show no weakness before this medical professional. "And what condition was that?"

Rayf looked as though he were about to speak, but the doctor answered almost immediately with a sniff, absentmindedly flicking through options on her datapad, as though the conversation with her patient were a mere distraction. "When your...cousin brought you to us, you were nearly catatonic with trauma caused by multiple contusions, lacerations, and minor fractures across much of your upper body cavity and skull. I don't know what kind of wild party or illicit activities you had to be involved in to sustain such damage to yourself, but had you come in for treatment earlier, perhaps you would not have had to remain in these facilities for so long. When you came to the hospital here, the only treatment you had received had been hastily-applied bacta patches and there were enough stims to set a gundark in hyperdrive flowing through your blood. We were forced to do a full bacta immersion to save you and treat your injuries." She gave Rayf a sidelong glance. "And bacta is not entirely simple to come by this far from Thyferra."

Rayf gave her an apologetic smile. "An extravagance for which House Barnaba will be happy to accommodate Wheel Administration and Senator Greyshade for. I'm simply ecstatic to know that our young heiress will survive her unfortunate accident, entirely due to the expert medical attention she had received here."

The doctor continued to give him an evaluative glare, but her expression softened slightly with pride at the flattering compliment. Foyi's eyes flicked to meet Rayf's in bewilderment, and he merely shrugged his shoulders. She noticed for the first time that he was carrying a small bundle in his arms, which she saw were folded sets of clean clothes upon closer inspection. She longed to simply take the garments from his arms, but she had to remain standing and suffer the scrutiny of the haughty doctor, who subjected her to several tests, measurements, and further poking and prodding to evaluate the state of her improving health. When she had completed her physical examination, the doctor seemed skeptical that Foyi was ready to be discharged, though Foyi suspected the doctor could care less whether the Twi'lek dropped dead a meter outside the Wheel's med center, as long as she was no longer taking up space that could be used for other patients. Rayf waited outside during the physical examination, giving Foyi a chance to look down at her mostly disrobed body to see there were only small scars, slight discolorations, and minor abrasions where once she had been bleeding profusely from injuries both on her exterior and upon her internal organs. And though she felt stiff, sore, and rather unsteady with her movements due to abuse and several days' rest, she was beginning to feel vigor return to her form, most of which she attributed to her connection with the Force. The doctor still seemed slightly puzzled, for though the miraculous effects of bacta had aided Foyi in recovering from her injuries, the aftereffects should have been more prevalent than they were. Finally, the doctor gave a shrug, as if the apparent wellbeing of her patient was little concern to her, and said simply, "If you believe you must go rushing off in your current state, then be my guest. I've done all I can for you anyway." And with that, the doctor finally left, and Foyi felt as though she could breathe a little easier.

Rayf walked through the door at the same time the doctor was leaving, and gave her back a disrespectful expression as she walked out, an exaggerated face that made Foyi giggle, despite herself. He offered her the folded clothing, and his grin was practically radiant, almost completely erasing the harried and exhausted lines etched into his face. He was nearly ecstatic to see her on her feet again, and she was uncertain what to feel about this other than gratitude. He left her alone to change, and gratefully she slipped off the medical robes and began to gingerly pull the garments he had supplied her on, a process that was more painful and time-consuming than she believed it would be initially. She was grateful to see that the clothes he had picked out for her were not the flashy and extravagant fashions that Rayf himself was wearing, but were simple and comfortable garments that were well-suited to daily and traveling wear. The clothing consisted of a snug, short-sleeved shirt in a cream tone, a pair of rugged but comfortable brown trousers with pockets along the hips and the sides of the legs, and a hooded jacket that was a size too large for her, a grayish-cream in color, with a zipper down the middle and large pockets over her abdomen. After pulling these clothes on, she padded across the room and found her well-worn boots shoved in the corner, as well as a fresh pair of socks, and had just finished strapping her footwear closed when there was a knock rapping at the metal of her door. "Come in!" she replied, and the door slid open to reveal Rayf again, who was still carrying his datapad. He looked her over as if to assure himself that she was still standing and still breathing.

"Ready to go?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

Foyi slowly straightened to her full height, and began striding past him to the door. She nodded her gratitude, saying, "Let's go. We've plenty of space to burn yet."

Though Foyi walked through the door ahead of him, she let Rayf take the lead almost immediately, as she had no knowledge of the layout of the space station known as the Wheel, which turned out to be far larger than she had originally anticipated. As they walked out of the med center, Rayf explained the basic structure of the Wheel, which was constructed in a configuration suggested by its name, a central axis from which radiated four spokes supporting a massive ring of superstructures. They were following the curve of that outer ring, where the most noteworthy events and attractions were located in the nearly endless array of casinos, gambling dens, spice pits, pleasure houses, and other forms of entertainment that created a veritable city following the entire circumference around the space station's outer ring. Emerging from the med center embroiled the two of them in lengthy hallways and promenades decorated with a dizzying array of holo advertisements, screens with livefeeds from the HoloNet, as well as terminals and gleaming droids guests and passerby could access for information on the station's innumerable diversions and extravagances. The thoroughfares and multileveled walkways were swarming with beings of all species, most of whom were dressed in fine garments, jewelry, and affectations of their stature and placement within the upper echelons of galactic society. It was readily apparent that the Wheel catered to those who possessed enough assets and credits to rack up impressive gambling tabs, and thus create an atmosphere of excitement, anticipation, and suspense. Foyi noticed that many of those they passed gave them sidelong glances that were openly critical, and she realized the majority of those glares were resultant of her passage and appearance, for her clothes were both functional and comfortable, instead of flashy, fashionable, and excessive. Many of those who levered such despicable gazes upon her were wearing a cruiser's worth of credits on their person in the value of their garments alone. The Wheel represented the entertainment hotspot for the upper levels of society, for those who headed vast megacorporations, owned their own spacestations, moons, even planets, and for those who fell within the graces of the Empire. Despite this, she saw no overt Imperial presence, and neither did she see signs of Yuelo's men or the Anjiliac Kajidic displayed openly. Perhaps such organizations did not exist out here. Or they did have influence and presence here, but were not in control, and thus had to keep a low profile. Even so, so many eyes upon her made her more than a little nervous, and she quickened her step beside Rayf as he continued to lead her on, offering his arm for support when she began to pant from the soreness in her stiff legs.

Rayf led her to a corner in the main thoroughfare, turning down into a bustling side corridor that opened onto a wide, flat dock, a large rectangular room that was supported by several ornate pillars and filled with many small knots of traveling groups. Most of these groups consisted of the affluent and influential, accompanied by friends, family, and sycophants, surrounded by entourages of servants, majordomos, and guards. The room was open on the far side, the floor ending at the edge of a platform that gave way to a large, horizontal tube that disappeared into the distance on both the right and left of the platform. As Foyi watched, a great wind and the howling sound of immense suction shrieked through the tunnel, and several gleaming capsules of polished, silvery metal appeared at the edge of the platform. Doors on the exterior of these capsules opened up and out, disgorging dozens of passengers onto the platform, while those already waiting for the arrival of the vehicles began to file into the emptied vessels, intending to be carried through the windy tubes to parts unknown throughout the superstructure of the Wheel.

Rayf and Foyi stepped up to the edge of the platform, awaiting the next cadre of vessels to transport them. Foyi could feel the immense power of the shifting air pressures in the tube, the wind clawing at her clothing and even lifting the tips of her lekku from her shoulders. She was still leaning on Rayf, and having difficulty breathing from the distance they had covered thus far, as well as the soreness that still permeated her body. "Airflow cars," Rayf explained, indicating the vessels that whipped through the tunnels before them. "Fastest way to get around this station outside of turbolifts and grav cars. We'll hitch a ride on one to the docks, where we'll get back to the Flamusfracta."

"And...be on our way," Foyi breathed.

Rayf nodded. There was a gust of wind that rippled their clothing, then another line of airflow cars emerged, fractures appearing in their gleaming external surfaces as the doors opened wide to let out the passengers ensconced within. Foyi had a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she looked into the interiors of those airflow cars, at the dim lighting and rows of plush seats, as she was reminded briefly of a sarcophagus. But when the two of them crawled into the vehicle with over a dozen other beings, she found it actually quite roomy, and the seats were the height of comfort. The airflow car's door slid closed with a slight hiss, and while there was no sudden lurch as the vessel sped on its way, she could feel the sensation of being hurtled down a shaft at incredible velocities. Foyi could not stop herself from dozing off slightly as the hum of the vehicle, the vibrations of the wind that carried it forward, and the relaxed structure of the seat all combined to form a soothing lullaby. She did not even realize that she had fallen asleep until she awoke with a start, Rayf nudging her shoulder. Bleary-eyed, she allowed him to help her out of the airflow car, and the pair stepped out onto another platform not unlike the one they had departed from.

Another blur of passages, corridors, and promenades glittering with scrolling holo ads, flashing lights, and slogans in stylized Aurebesh, filled with jostling crowds of the rich and famous. Her eyes were inexorably drawn to some of these advertisements, one showing scenic images of the Wheel from space, causing her to gawk at the picturesque curves of the space station's polished exterior, the grand yachts and cruisers that whirled through the stars carving graceful arcs about the Wheel's central axis. Beneath the holograms scrolled Aurebesh characters imparting a popular slogan for the Wheel, contrasting the temperatures of space and the "action" on the wheel, the images of the Wheel's hull fading to give panoramic views of the space station's most popular casinos, including a lounge filled with red upholstery and furniture, used by specimens of mostly human and near-human races who appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves and clutching enormous stacks of credits. Beside this advertisement was another screen in the midst of playing a rousing holodrama that none-too-subtly painted the characters displayed therein garbed in Imperial uniforms and insignia as heroes, all arranged around a young, human male who appeared to be the star of the film, and had a face that seemed to have been sculpted specifically for holo entertainment. Captions beneath the screen named the film as The Black Bantha, and beneath these scrolled the names of the main actors who participated in the film in repetend, the most prominent of these names belonging to a Garik Loran. Foyi sneered as one of the Imperial characters was shown assisting the child lead in a most wise and benevolent manner, though she could not deny to herself a dark sense of fascination, for she had never seen an actual holodrama before. Rayf had to physically tear her away from the screen, and she felt a moment of shame as she considered how interesting Tama would find the film, thus prompting her to recall the goals she had set for herself in rescuing her sister.

They finally made it through the thick, shuffling crowds on the main promenades, squeezing through cramped corridors that were just as busy as those they had left, or even more so as they advanced against the press. She kept a grip on Rayf's arm as he shoved his way through the crowd, using small telepathic suggestions and tiny applications of the Force to cause the hordes of people heading the opposite direction to step aside with hardly a look sideways at the pair. Foyi was grateful for the efforts on her part, for she was certain if she were jostled too much by passerby, she would be surely knocked to her back by someone, her legs were still so unsteady. The corridors they passed through finally opened into a line of docking bays set into the massive, sweeping metal walls before them, the doorways that denoted entrances to the hangars curving inward to the left and right as far as the eyes could see. Rayf said nothing as he concentrated on reading the numbers stenciled in gilt strokes beside the doors, until he stopped before a portal designated Docking Bay 31. There were members of the Wheel Security Force stationed outside the door, a pair of human males, their pale faces tinted green by the nearly opaque blast shields on their enclosed helmets, their bulky but functional uniforms arrayed in green and gold colors. They held blaster rifles across their chests, and shock rods were shoved into sheathes at their equipment belts. Rayf gave them a smile so charming it was worthy of a Zeltron and provided his personal pass, as the bay was restricted to those who reserved its space. A cursory scan of the pass allowed the two of them to proceed through the ornate doors, the two guards giving Foyi gazes that were merely curious, not hostile, as she passed within their regard. The door slid shut with barely a whisper of sound behind them, and Foyi and Rayf walked into a sizable docking bay, its far opening a yawning black rectangle tinged with blue containment fields, a vacuous sea of silver lights revolving opposite of the Wheel's axial rotation. In the center of the bay sat the Flamusfracta, the replica Firespray-31-class interceptor's rough and pitted hull looking out of place on the gleaming, polished floor and walls of the docking bay.

Foyi looked up at Rayf as they proceeded across the floor, and she almost felt sorry for treading with her worn, scuffed, and muddied boots across the polished surface. "This bay looks...expensive. How did you manage to secure such docking arrangements? More Epsis contacts?"

Rayf nodded. "That was some of it, though I doubt I'll be able to count on my contacts with Epsis for much longer, 'cause they know who was responsible for all the chaos and havoc we wrought in Point Nadir. The rest was accomplished through our supposed affiliations with the Tapani Noble House Barnaba, a winning personality on my part, and some handy greasing of the servomotors." Another grin quirked his lips. "And maybe a mind trick or two. Never was very good with those things, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it."

They entered the Flamusfracta and made their way to the cockpit, strapping themselves into the crash restraints as Rayf keyed in the startup sequence. Foyi breathed a sigh of relief to be off her feet again, and let herself search the depths of the Force all around her, finding the serenity at the very center of her being and letting it grow to fill her. Her pain, her stiffness, and her fear for Tama were lost in that meditative, epitomized state, and she simply let herself exist in the moment and the present, to feel the oneness with the Force. She opened her eyes as Rayf opened the throttle on the engines and the ship inverted, rising off its aft end and righting itself as it soared through the hangar's opening. Rayf tipped it slightly on its port side as he slid through the containment fields, making certain he would not strike the edges of the docking bay, and then they were out into the void once more. Foyi cast a glance at the rear scopes and saw the Wheel shrinking in the distance, the scopes casting the space station in a digitized, crimson glow, a circular structure spinning slowly through a canvas of red. There were small, outlined figures whirling about the Wheel, silhouettes representing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of ships leaving the Wheel's outer docking bays and buoys, or coasting into the space station's purview according to docking control's provided flight patterns. She shuddered as she left the miasma of greed, lust, and apathy that had permeated the very air of the station, then focused her eyes forward as the ship's navicomp finished plotting a course to Felucia. Rayf gave her a look that was more solemn than excited, then pushed the lever forward that would engage the hyperdrive. The silver points of light became lines, and the midnight blackness of space gave way to hypnotic blue swirls, leaving the Wheel far behind.

Foyi was still rabidly devouring a mostly palatable meal from the Flamusfracta's food synthesizers when Rayf sat down across from her, placing his datapad on the checkered surface of the dejarik table between them. He watched her eat with a skeptical glance, until she narrowed her gaze at him, and with a mouthful of podon-bandifert tart, exclaimed, "What're you looking at?"

"I'm just trying to determine whether you're refurbished or not," he replied absentmindedly as he chewed on a nutrient bar.

Foyi gave a derisive snort. "'Refurbished'? I was never broken, Rayf, just a little beat up. And no, I'm not a hundred percent yet, but I'm getting there. I figure I'll enter a healing trance during the trip, and maybe catch some more real sleep, and I should be ready to go and put my boot up the Shepherd's exhaust port." She looked down at the tray of food before her, embarrassed. "I don't believe I thanked you, Rayf. For...looking after me; for going to all that trouble to make sure I didn't start sucking void for good. Thanks. Truly."

Rayf gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Ah, it was nothing. I'm just glad that you can walk again. Honestly, I was impressed that you made it that far before collapsing. But I could feel you living off the Force the entire time we confronted Yuelo. You were practically radiant, Foyi. It's been a long time since I've met someone as strong in the Force as you are."

Foyi gave an uncomfortable twitch of her tchun, subconsciously wrapping it about her throat. "Well, I still succumbed, so I can't be that strong."

"Seriously? That Mandallian took less punishment than you did and you dropped him. I'm looking at you, still breathing, still aware and alive, and not him. I'd say you did pretty good...plus, you're a lot lighter than a Mandallian Giant, so it wasn't too difficult to carry you to Yuelo's safehouse."

She smirked. "And once again, I thank you for that. Though I'm obviously still in the dark as to exactly what happened after I went dark."

Rayf leaned back in his chair, thinking back on past events only he could remember. "Well, when you fainted, I was afraid you were dead or dying at first. I couldn't wake you, and I was determined to make sure you stayed alive. I mean, who would I bother with my annoying puns and irresistible optimism if you weren't around? The Flamusfracta has heard all my jokes a dozen times already, so I know she wasn't eager to take your place. Anyway, I left Yuelo stuck under all that slag we dropped on his fat, wrinkly hide, and put the Force in my steps and got us down that tunnel as quickly as I could. Turns out, the tunnel sloped up into one of the warehouses in the Trade District, and it was truly a fortress, a perfect place for a Hutt and some of his goons to hole up and hold off anything short of a seismic charge. The safehouse was stocked with weapons, food, and medical supplies, as well as emergency stores of credits and valuables, so I helped myself to what we needed and decided to get you back to the Flamusfracta so that we could leave Anjiliac territory before Yuelo got free and took up our differences with Zietta and the other Hutts. You can thank Yuelo's contingencies and paranoia for all the bacta patches and medkits you went through to keep you alive, which was long enough to get you to the state of the art med center on the Wheel. You had a nice long bacta bath and a little kath nap, and now here you are, seventy-eight percent Healthy Foyi again."

Foyi chuckled, only to feel a sharp stab through her ribs at the expression, eliciting a grimace. Rayf's expression fell, and he added solemnly, "Okay, maybe seventy-five."

Foyi practically inhaled the rest of her sweet tart, then replied around another mouthful, "You got another one of those, and I might make eighty before the hour's up."

Rayf's infectious grin returned, and he disappeared into the ship's cramped galley, returning a few moments later with three podon-bandifert tarts, two of which he offered the Twi'lek, who accepted them gratefully, tearing into them with abandon. She had not been hungry upon awakening from her slumber, but when they had finally embarked on their way to Felucia and Rayf had set food before her, she realized she was ravenous. Despite the pains and aches through her abdomen, the sustenance went down quickly to her grateful stomach. Rayf began to chew on his own sweet tart, then scooped up the datapad he had set down, flipping through several files he had compiled. "If you're not too busy stuffing your patogga hole, I spent most of the time you were borderline comatose researching everything I could find out about Felucia, and the Shepherd."

Foyi's gaze shot up to meet his own, and he began skimming the information he had displayed on the screen. "Felucia's a terrestrial jungle world in the Outer Rim. Hot, humid, lots of fungus, mushrooms, and large predators. Has been subject to small colonization efforts by Gossams, and was even controlled by the Commerce Guild during the Clone Wars. Several battles and skirmishes were fought there during the same time period 'cause Felucia sits near the intersection of two major hyperlanes, with the Republic ultimately successful, but only after great cost and a couple years of fighting. Nowadays, many of the Gossam cities and settlements that once existed there have been abandoned or destroyed, and what little of the planet is settled has been done so by the natives, which are not particularly friendly to outsiders." He tapped a few more icons on the screen. "Reports of battles and wartime from the Clone Wars have always been sketchy, even before Palpatine began changing the past however he so chose to best support the solidarity of the New Order. But what I was able to gather through research and sliced records, Felucia suffered heavy damage during the war, including the decimation of most forms of modern civilization on the planet. Large parts of the planet's ecosystem were poisoned by contingency toxins released by the Commerce Guild before they were shattered. I sliced a few Imperial records as well, and I bet you would never guess that the Empire has claimed the world as their own now, though from what I can determine, it's not a true occupation force, but more of a garrison and research team of some sort."

Foyi raised a quizzical brow. "What are they researching?"

"Biotoxins and botanicals, mostly. Felucia produces a lot of strange and unique flora and fauna, and many types of compounds and solutions can be harvested from them for a variety of medicinal purposes. Though, knowing the Empire, they're probably more interested in bioweapons and targeted neurotoxins." He placed the datapad on the dejarik table, displaying an elevation map that seemed to have been compiled from satellite imagery, showing a jagged and tumultuous landscape mostly covered in jungle, forest, and ridged stone, the dense landscape broken by lakes, rivers, and creeks, scarred by the burned patches and slashed clearings where warfare had violated the sanctity of the fungal realm. There was a hazy, pixellated collection of shapes in the center of the images, all grays and blacks, which may have represented a complex of buildings or structures. There was a map marker on those gray shapes, a string of numbers floating beside it denoting the pin on the images as the exact location specified by the coordinates Yuelo had given them under duress. "It took me awhile to even get this glimpse, but fortunately, what little is recorded of the planet's surface encompasses the immediate area around the coordinates Yuelo's goons meet the Shepherd for deliveries. I think it's some old Separatist base or lookout point, though it could be a clone tapcafe for all I know."

Foyi stared down at the datapad, as though she could see Tama in the static images simply by willing it to be so. "So, there are Imperials down there somewhere, and if you were able to dredge up these old maps, it's likely the Empire already has them too. Not to mention Yuelo might be warning the Shepherd as we speak that we're coming."

"Don't forget that the Shepherd might not actually be on Felucia," Rayf pointed out glumly. "This could simply be a dead drop, with little to no clues as to the Shepherd's real location."

Foyi glared down at the datapad, acknowledging the issues he had brought to her attention and hoping that their first solid lead on the Shepherd, and by extension, Tama's, whereabouts would not turn out to be another wild yunax chase. "Any other problems that we could be facing on Felucia?"

Rayf scratched the hair on his chin uncomfortably. "Yeah. Felucia's full of both plants and animals that aren't too fond of visitors, not to mention the natives, of which there are two species. The one is mostly peaceful, keeping to themselves in small villages and farming nysillin, but the Jungle Felucians are a different breed of bantha. They keep to themselves, hiding out in the wilderness in small villages and tribes, and viciously attack and kill anyone they deem a threat to their existence and ways of life. Which is pretty much anyone who isn't part of their tribes. I even found some obscure references in some of the Imperial reports that claim some of these Felucians possess 'magical abilities', which they use to truly deadly effect for stealth, ambushes, and even taming the more disagreeable fauna. Like rancors."

Foyi's green skin took on a sickly pallor. "They're Force-sensitives? With rancors for pets?"

"According to some old Republic military reports from the Clone Wars, there're also acklay running about the wilderness, though no mention of Felucians training them as being's best friend. Though, if you can tame a rancor, I wouldn't put it past them." He leaned over the datapad, drawing her attention to the dark and serious gaze he levered her way. "This isn't going to be a blue milk run, Foyi. If these Force-users are as accomplished as these reports suggest, not only are they going to be dangerous to us, but they've likely attracted Imperial contingencies that I don't know we're prepared for."

"Like the Jedi hunters," Foyi barely dared to breathe.

Rayf nodded, looking rather ill. "The Inquisitorius. Purge Troops. Maybe even a Terror Unit." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, then gave a lengthy sigh of resignation. "But we've no choice. The way I see it, if Tama is imprisoned on Felucia, all the threats we've just discussed are just more reasons for why we must liberate her. Never mind whatever the Shepherd would want her for; if the Empire is in the same place, hunting Force-users, it will only be a matter of time before they discover her."

Foyi nodded; she could feel a cold current of fear whirling about her heart, threatening to drown it completely. "Her training in the ways of the Zeison Sha and the Force overall is incomplete. She knows how to hide herself in the Force, but not as well as she could. Not as well as I can. And she might be even more battered and wounded than I am." She met Rayf's eyes again, her own widening with barely-controlled fear for her sister. "And I hadn't even gotten around to teaching her how to fight other Force-users. If she's in a jungle full of hostile ones, with the Emperor's Force hounds prowling around..." She looked around the room about her, listening to the sound of the hyperdrive, the thrumming of the engines. "Dose this ship go any faster?"

Rayf shook his head ruefully, then reached across the table and placed a palm over her own hand. His presence in the Force expanded, creating ripples in the waves of the Force between them, and she could feel the calm, collected influence beginning to seep into her own. "Trust in the Force, remember? There's nothing we can do right now, but plan, prepare, and trust that the Force will provide for Tama, trust that she's smart, capable, alive, and doing everything she can to make sure she stays that way. When we get there, if she's there, we'll find her, even if we have to wade through the entire Empire, Felucian jungle, and whatever else the galaxy throws at us to get to her. Nothing's changed; things have just gotten more complicated."

Foyi met his kind and serene stare, and accepted the offered sensations of calm and peace with gratitude. She mentally reached toward the core of her being and gripped it tight, holding onto it, allowing the serenity she kept there to spread out and eradicate the fear worming through her heart. She pulled her hand back with a grateful smile, then let out a great exhalation as she centered herself. She tapped the edge of the datapad with her finger, and replied with renewed confidence. "You're right, of course. We'll do this. Tama's counting on us." Her gaze flicked down to the datapad. "Did you find out anything about the Shepherd?"

Rayf grimaced, folding his arms across his chest and slowly shaking his head. "Not as much as I would've liked. Alotta rumors and yarns coming from fogblasted and glit-biting spacers, but nothing I would count as hard, verifiable fact. Most of it was the same kind of stuff you've heard before. The Shepherd is not well-known across the galaxy, but there are plenty of tales regarding pretty much every detail of this person, droid, or thing calling itself 'the Shepherd' out here on the Outer Rim. I even found a few bounties and death warrants on the Shepherd's head, just like Yuelo said, but since no one really knows anything about him, no respectable bounty hunter has ever seriously considered taking up the contract. Plus, none of his supposed crimes have actually been tied directly to him, so the bounty isn't high enough for most bounty hunters to even consider. He's more like the Lord Nyax of the Outer Rim, supposedly haunting the steps of misbehaving and sinful children and coming for them in the night, when they least suspect it, to carry them away back to his lair, never to be seen again. I found some 'wanted' ads and 'missing' holos for kids that disappeared without a trace, some of their parents attributing their disappearances to 'kidnapping by the Shepherd'."

Foyi furrowed her brow. "'Lord Nyax'?"

Rayf stared at her a moment, as if he could not believe she was unaware of the reference, then gave a slight chuckle as he remembered that she had been insulated from much of the galaxy until quite recently. "Ah, Lord Nyax is an old Corellian legend. Supposedly, he's an evil, pale ghost with yellow eyes, a black hooded cloak, long nails, and sharp teeth, who comes at night to steal away misbehaving children from their beds while they slept. A stupid threat Corellian parents would tell their children to get their compliance when being particularly willful. Due to my unique upbringing, I never knew my parents long enough to rebel against them, nor have the holy milking Sith scared out of me by the specter of Lord Nyax, but I've heard about it from other Corellians I've met who used to be deathly afraid of being kidnapped by the ghost when they were children." His expression darkened. "You know, come to think of it, the Shepherd's methods sound awfully similar to those actions taken by the fictional Lord Nyax. Perhaps he's affiliated with the Cult of Lord Nyax on Corellia; might be a connection there we could check out if we find nothing on Felucia." He slid the datapad within reach, then recorded some notes on the device to chronicle his sudden insight.

Foyi unconsciously stroked her tchun in thought, the images of Felucia's topography still running through her mind, interspersed with a half dozen imagined scenarios of facing the many dangers apparent on the world. Rancors, robed Inquisitors, and faceless Felucian Force adepts made a rogues' gallery of horrors through her mind, and she had to call upon the Force to calm herself again. She felt a yawn come to her lips unbidden, and stood wearily from her seat, the excessive amount of food she had consumed sitting heavily in her stomach. Rayf looked up from his datapad and favored her with a soft smile. "You look exhausted. Honestly, sweetheart, I don't know how you're still awake, much less standing."

"Well, apparently I've been asleep for four days."

"And you look like you could use four more. We're still a long way from Felucia; you should probably take the opportunity to get as much rest as possible. Something tells me that once we get to where we're going, we won't be getting much sleep."

Foyi gave him a skeptical glance. "Does the Force tell you this?"

"Nah, just the trusty Moors' intuition. Everytime I look at these images or any information about Felucia, I get a bad feeling. Whatever's waiting for us there ain't gonna be simple."

Foyi felt like arguing, but what he said made sense. Despite having been completely oblivious to the galaxy for almost a week, she still felt as though she had barely gotten any sleep, and the weight in her stomach seemed determined to drag her down further, prompting her to lose herself in the unconscious bliss that truly deep sleep offered. She knew she should instead allow herself to fall beneath the surface waves of the Force and to drawn upon the healing offered in its depths, but she doubted she could manage the concentration and truly meditative state that required. Her body and mind practically screamed for sleep, and she doubted they would cease their insistence no matter how deeply she delved within the Force; being Force-sensitive did not divorce her from the needs of her mundane existence completely, and she had ignored most of those needs for too long already. After all, trying to rescue Tama with a mere modicum of her capabilities and strength would more than likely get herself, Rayf, and Tama killed. Ultimately, she merely nodded sleepily. "Perhaps you're right. I'll just head to my bunk. Make sure I'm up at least four hours before we reach Felucia."

Rayf pushed off the surface of the dejarik board and stretched, his arms reaching for the perimeters of the room. Foyi belatedly realized that he must be incredibly tired as well, as she doubted he had had little sleep in the intervening time since they had left Point Nadir. She grimaced, silently berating herself for being so focused on herself and her own goals, at the expense of the man who had pledged his friendship and capabilities to accomplishing those goals, to helping her rescue someone he had never met before. "Maybe you should get some sleep as well."

He shook his head ruefully. "I...should probably just do some more research. Maybe practice a little, keep my body in shape and my wan-shen sharp, you know."

"Rayf. Neither one of us is going to help anyone if we're falling asleep on our feet in the middle of the Felucian jungle. Get some sleep."

"The Force shall sustain me," he replied stubbornly.

Foyi's lekku writhed in irritation. She could be stubborn as well, and probably to a greater extent than Rayf could. She jabbed a commanding finger in his direction. "Rayf...you don't go to sleep, I won't either. Set an alarm or whatever if you have to, but we're both getting some sleep, or none at all. Your choice."

Rayf considered her demands carefully, then a rakish grin came to his features. "So we're in this together, huh? That an invitation?"

Foyi made a disgusted snort as she passed him on her way to the cabins. "You wish, laserbrain. Get some sleep, and leave remarks like that in your head; maybe then you'd be able to fill it with something."

Rayf merely gave a chuckle as she passed him, calling after her, "'Night, 'cousin'."

"'Night", she murmured, slipping through the door into the claustrophobic cabin that had been designated as hers. The bunk on the far wall, despite its sparse structure and appearance, was one of the most beautiful objects she had ever seen. She gave a sigh of relief as she clambered atop it, not even bothering to undress or pull the thin sheets over herself. She was not even aware of her head hitting the pillow as unconscious slumber took her and plunged her into the deepest depths of serenity.

Foyi awoke to the sound of her door opening and closing rapidly, its servos whining as slid back and forth. She blinked the blur and mucus brought on by sleep from her eyes, to see Rayf standing in the doorway, his visage appearing and reappearing as the door slid back and forth. He had a wide and sardonic grin plastered on his face, and much of the exhaustion she had seen etched into his face and drooping from his eyes had disappeared. In fact, he seemed practically giddy with renewed energy as he crowed, "Up and upright, cousin!"

Foyi cursed under her breath as Rayf continued to open and close the door in an irritating fashion, his wide grin even more aggravating than the sound of the door's sliding servomotors. She tried to rise from her bunk and felt almost every ache and pain shoot through her body at once, the final phantasms of her wounds demanding attention. She gave a groan of pain and consternation; all her body wanted to do was continue sleeping, though her mind, which had already risen from the foggy morass of sleep, urged her physical form to get moving. She practically crawled out of bed, then shoved off the floor to stand again, smoothing and straightening her rumpled clothes in an attempt to salvage some of her dignity. She ran a hand over her eyes, peering from between fingers at the blinding light silhouetting Rayf's frame. "Am I dead yet?" she groaned irritably.

Rayf's white teeth flashed as he finally kept the door open, stepping aside as she stumbled through the doorway past his upraised arm. "You don't get to die on my watch."

She shook her head in exasperation and made her way back to the lounge, where she flopped on the crash couch beside the dejarik board. "You're rather lame, you know that?" She smeared a hand over her eyes again. "Is there any caf?"

As if on cue, Rayf plopped a tray of piping hot caf on the table, surrounded by empty cups and condiments like sugar and cream to add to the dark and heavenly liquid. Foyi set about making herself a cup of caf loaded with sugar and a copious amount of cream, then breathed a sigh of relief as the warm liquid slid down her esophagus and settled in her stomach, the energy it could provide spreading to the ends of her limbs in short order and allowing her mind to focus. She opened her eyes to see Rayf coming back into the room, carrying a large bundle of plating, cloth, and the metallic length of an energy weapon. He placed them on the couch beside her, and she saw that it was the armor indicative of the Zeison Sha, created by her own hands, as well as the disruptor rifle she had taken as hers. She ran her hands over the pitted and scarred surface of the armored plating, the tears and slashes through the heavy cloth that strung it all together. She grimaced; the armor had suffered considerable damage since she had set off from Yanibar, and she doubted its effectiveness until she managed to repair it. Or even make a new set. The disruptor rifle was in far better shape, and a quick glance at the readout on its chamber revealed that its power cells had been replenished, and was at full charge. She looked up to thank him, but then he placed the unbuckled harness she usually kept across her back, its center holding her prized and cherished discblade. Lovingly, she extracted the weapon from its harness, turning it over in her hands, inspecting its contours and blades as much with the Force as she did her eyes. It was exactly how she remembered it, minus the blood she had last coated its exterior with, and appeared none the worse for wear. She slid the weapon back into its sheathe, then sighed contentedly. "Thank you, Rayf."

He sat down across the table from her and began preparing his own cup of caf. "I figured you would be wanting that stuff, though I'm not so sure that armor's going to help you much anymore until it's repaired...or replaced."

Foyi bit her lower lip as she laid the armor out before her, looking at the deep dents, rents, tears, and carbon scoring. She gathered the pieces together in a tightly-wrapped bundle and set it aside reluctantly. She looked down at her clothes, noting to herself that the sturdy material would do little against a blaster bolt, though her armor was more effective against glancing blows over direct hits anyway. She would simply have to rely on her abilities to evade and deflect incoming attacks more than usual. "You're right. Wearing armor that's liable to drop pieces everywhere we go in the jungle isn't going to be of much use. I don't suppose you have any duranium and phrik alloys on hand you're not using, do you?"

Rayf inspected the pockets of his jacket, then shrugged apologetically. "All out, I'm afraid. Though I did take plenty of useful items from Yuelo's safehouse, including a whole armory's worth of weapons and explosives I'm sure we can put to good use."

"What about the warehouse we 'acquired' from our good friend Sho Sura?"

Rayf patted his datapad at his belt after a lengthy slurp of caf. "Still under our new security measures, and I haven't received any alerts that someone has tried to get in. Force willing, it'll still be waiting for us whenever we next visit Point Nadir again...which should be a long time in the future, if it's all the same to you, considering how many people we pissed off the last time we were there."

"What in the galaxy are we going to do with that warehouse?" Foyi asked, honestly bewildered. "I mean, there's plenty of legitimate salvage and merchandise held within that warehouse, but there are all the spice too..."

"Yeah! We could be rich! We could fill my ship's cargo hold with credits, and roll around in it, laughing at the galaxy's misfortune?"

Foyi answered his mischievous expression with one of contempt. "You want us to be spicerunners now? Selling drugs to all the vulnerable, addicted, and disadvantaged in the galaxy?"

His expression fell. "Not really. If money really mattered to either one of us, that would be the smart move, though I think our track record together so far shows we rarely take the 'smart move' in any given situation."

Foyi laughed, the action causing pain to knife through her ribs again. "I suppose I can't disagree. This is probably a decision to make that can wait till after we rescue Tama."

"I agree wholeheartedly," came his enthusiastic response. He drained the rest of his caf, checked his chrono, and sprang to his feet. "Well, if the navicomp's calculations are correct, we should arrive on Felucia in a few hours. I'm going to take the time to practice and meditate. My wan-shen has been feeling lonely and betrayed by all my reliance on blasters lately; time to put it through a few maneuvers, make sure the old bones and muscles are still up to snuff. If you need me, I'll be in the cargo hold." And without further ado, he walked through the door and to the hold in the back, leaving Foyi alone with her thoughts and the rest of the caf. It took her moments to consume the majority of the remaining caf, then, despite the caf's stimulants coursing through her body, she found it relatively easy to contact the center of peace and calm in herself, and to descend within healing waters of a meditative Force trance. She lost track of time and the outside world, focusing on becoming one with the Force, on letting its cool waters caress her skin and slide through her body, finding the disruptions and imbalances within her body and spirit left by both her physical and emotional ordeals. Despite the amount of rejuvenating sleep she had received recently, none of it compared to the relaxation and regeneration of a healing Force trance, where she completely lost herself within the endless power of the Force and attained true balance with the unifying energy of all existence.

She only reluctantly drug herself from the depths of her meditation when she heard the chime sounding through the ship, the soft alarm that signaled the end of their journey. She straightened her limbs from where she had been sitting on the crash couch, finding they were barely sore anymore, and the pain that had been intermittently plaguing her body since awakening in the Wheel's medcenter. She got up to her feet in time to see Rayf jog through the room on his way to the cockpit; his skin was slightly flushed, but she could see no true sweat on his body, even though he had likely spent the last few hours in the frenetic meditative stances indicative of the Matukai. Foyi followed him at a slower speed, still unsteady on her feet, and clambered into the copilot's chair just as Rayf disengaged the hyperdrive. The tunnel of blue and white flashing past the viewports stretched into streaks of bluish-white light, then starlines, then finally coalesced into the ocean of stars against the void of space. Dominating the bottom of her view and seeming to pop into existence was a vast semicircle of a planet that grew larger as the ship veered toward it. The planet's atmosphere was shrouded by gray stretches of moisture, storm systems and nomadic tribes of clouds twisting and swirling over the world's surface. They allowed brief glimpses of the surface beneath their leering gazes, revealing vast, stormy oceans bisected by jagged continents in shades of green, purple, and brown. As the world grew to swallow the viewports, Rayf reached back and began buckling his crash restraints, while Foyi mimicked him, her gaze never leaving the sight of the planet looming before them. It looked perfectly tranquil, a world where nature ruled, had fought the conquering forces of civilization, had weathered the violations of war, and now stood strong and defiant. She felt a small current of concern from Rayf, and looked to the side to see a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his neck, his brow furrowed in concentration, as though he was focusing on not being sick. He felt her gaze, but did not meet it as they descended toward the upper atmosphere. "You feel that? The planet?"

Foyi did not answer, instead submerging herself in the Force again, then sending out searching waves to Felucia below them. She did not have to extend her senses far, however, for the full brunt of the planet's Force energies crashed over her like a tsunami, threatening to engulf her. The planet was filled to bursting with life, their presences and essences forming a network of life, thought, and instinct so intertwined, tangled, and numerous it was nearly impossible for her to pick out individuals in the morass of light and waves. It was as if the entire planet was one major organism, the creatures and plants across its surface forming the organs and anatomical systems of the whole, connected to each other in infinite numbers of ways so that she could not even begin to disaggregate a single creature from the whole. But the prevalence of the Living Force on this planet was not what nearly floored her, but rather the overall imbalance in the Force that had seeped into the very crust of Felucia, the cold waters that produced the undertow of that tsunami of life and chilled her to her very core. It was a feeling she had become intimately familiar with over the last week or so, but never in such an overwhelming and noxious amount. The Dark Side shadowed this planet, having seeped into everything living on the world, tainting their essences to their very cores. Everything below them felt ill, twisted, and warped, the Dark Side having spread like an epidemic through the fabric of the world's very existence. She pulled her consciousness back from the brink hastily, lest she fall into those fathomless depths and be lost to the void. She became aware again of the comforting confines of the cockpit, of the looming, clouded atmosphere of Felucia filling the entire viewports, which suddenly seemed sinister, whereas before it had appeared tranquil, natural, and captivating.

"There's something wrong with this planet..." Rayf remarked, more to himself than her. He appeared to be in pain, and it was only with great exertion on his part that he regained his calm composure.

"The Force...is unusually strong here," Foyi added, keeping her consciousness closely bound to her own mind. "But I mostly feel the Dark Side in the organisms here. No wonder the Empire would be interested in this place."

"We must be vigilant. Trust nothing, and be careful in how you use the Force while we're here."

No more words were exchanged between them as Rayf focused on getting the Flamusfracta through the atmosphere in one piece, enduring the jarring turbulence as the awkwardly-shaped vessel knifed through the exosphere and crossed into lower layers within moments, obscuring the viewports in flashes of fire that chewed at the ship's deflectors. Foyi gripped the rests of her chair in anxiety as the ship bucked and swooped side to side, Rayf wrestling with the control yoke but keeping it flying upright and in a relatively straight line. Soon, the flames disappeared to be replaced by grit and splattering moisture as they slashed through cloud layers, emerging to see the jungle below. The dusky sun was setting on the horizon, casting a glare over indeterminate square kilometers of jungle, thick and tangled with species of fungus that twisted upward in great bulbous stacks, mushrooms the size of star cruisers blanketing whole regions' worth of terrain with their effulgent shades, interdependent and endless colonies of moss and mold forming a springy carpet across the forest floor. In the dimming light, most of the flora was aglow with phosphorescent patterns and inner lights, producing a sea of fungal matter that seemed to undulate and glitter as they passed over it. Even moving as quickly as they were, Foyi could see the air itself seemed to have a thick, grainy filter upon it, causing all light to distort and dim as clouds of spores swirled through the air, choking off the very atmosphere. It was going to be difficult to breathe with the Dark Side so prevalent, but these spores would further compound the issue.

Rayf tipped the Flamusfracta to starboard, and Foyi saw the first sign of intelligent, geometric architecture rising from the jungle's depths. Upon approach, it was revealed to be a rectangular landing platform, its hard edges and lines softened and broken by the species of fungus growing up its supports and across its surface, while Felucia's vicious erosive elements had discolored the gray metal to a rusty pallor. The platform rose above a small cluster of dilapidated buildings, a close compound Felucia was hellbent on dismantling, judging by the amount of fungal growth that traversed the edifices' walls and roofs. Rayf tipped the ship on its aft as they approached, and Foyi had a brief moment of vertigo as they descended vertically, followed by a grinding noise that shivered through the ship as the landing sequence engaged and made contact with the landing platform's top. Rayf began flipping switches to shut down the engines and essential systems, and Foyi breathed a sigh of relief at surviving another landing. She was not entirely comfortable with interstellar travel yet.

Rayf unstrapped the crash restraints and exhaled, as if preparing himself for whatever might lay ahead. "End of the road, cousin."

Foyi nodded and levered herself out of the chair, making her way to the boarding ramp, picking up her disruptor rifle and strapping on her discblade's harness along the way. As soon as she opened the ramp, she was assaulted by the planet's humidity, like a physical force that had slapped her across the face. She gasped, and succeeded in inhaling a lungful of spores and heavy, rank moisture, which immediately set her sneezing and coughing. She steadied herself and strode down the ramp, trying not to breathe too deeply of the turgid atmosphere, and walked onto the landing platform, stepping over particularly hoary patches of fungus that had worked their way into the minute fractures between the disparate plates making up the platform's deck. Due to the height of the platform above the planet's surface, there was a stiff wind blowing across the surface, stirring her clothes and bringing with it a suffocating heat and more clouds of spores that worked their way into her nostrils and eyes. The forest stretched out before her, kilometers upon kilometers of fungus, much of it exuding its own types of light, coursing over undulating hills and craggy, jagged ridges before plunging into deep valleys and gorges. The feelings of life and disease in the Force was even stronger here, the Dark Side reaching out with frigid fingers in myriad grasping claws, all reaching for her heart, as if intending to infect her along with everything else on this planet.

Rayf came to her side, his step soft and nearly soundless, despite the amount of equipment he carried. His wan-shen had been partitioned and clasped to his belt again, while two energy weapons were strapped to his back, the VES-700 Pulse Rifle he had acquired from one of Yuelo's thugs, and a DLT-20A Longblaster he had presumably relieved from Yuelo's stockpiles in his safehouse. At his hip was holstered a WESTAR-34 Blaster Pistol, and slung over his shoulder was a pack that presumably carried explosives. As he approached, he offered Foyi an A295 Blaster Rifle, which she accepted gratefully and slung it across her back beside the Disruptor Rifle. Together, the two of them stared off into the jungle ahead, looking for further signs of civilization or habitation. Rayf gave a strangled cough, then turned to look down at her. "Have any senses of Tama yet?"

Foyi shook her head slowly. "Not so far. It's so hard to concentrate...the Force is so wild and...convoluted here, so dark and diseased. I can barely concentrate, much less pick out a particular person amongst all these other life signatures. If she's here, I doubt I'll sense her until we get closer to her, or we stumble upon a place she's been recently."

Rayf sighed. "Then we should probably focus on hunting for signs of the Shepherd. Yuelo said this was the dead drop for all the slaves that are shuttled through here, so even if the Shepherd comes later to take them offworld, there has to be some sign of it."

Foyi peered over the edge of the platform, gazing down into the Separatist ruins of the compound almost a dozen meters below them. "We could start down there."

"That's what I was gonna say. Great minds think alike."

Foyi smirked as she walked to the corner of the platform, where a series of rusting, rickety stairs clambered down the supports to the jungle below. "Flattery doesn't become you, Rayf."

"Hey, someone has to stroke my ego, and you're sure as hell not going to."

"Damn straight."