Chakta Sai Kae (Rayna)

[Ira Yahff]

Chakta Sai Kae

Lush emerald splurged over the grassland. Eloquent contrast of grazed the land in chestnut willow that perched over the fields. Creatures of many kind chirped in the melody of nature. Tranquility flowed through the leaves that brushed in the sigh of the wind. Taken aback by the utter artistry, the wind carried on effortlessly through the strands of grass. Above rested sea of clouds and meadow of teal. The green below, white and blue above gave a sublime visual. All the peace of the perfect illustration faded with a duo's clench.

Two lids coated their indigo eyes. Swept over in an attempt to exempt the world's allure, the blue-eyed owner took his view inward. On an astute tread through the crevice of the mind, the young figure pursued the past in a search for the future.

Time had brought much onto the man's platter. Once a simple Echani who kept to himself, a faithful night ran it's thread through until a new image was crafted. A closet of old thoughts were reformatted and changed. Everything had been adjusted and modified like the YT-series.

Jehkran requested it, but he knew not what he was stepping into. Underneath the mysterious title of a Jedi Padawan, he took grasp to an exotic being only known as the Force. On numerous occasions he would provide a whirlwind of concepts to win him over in impossible situations. Behind the flank of a normal man he possessed an array of techniques. The Dmath descendant had taken Rayna's teachings to heart. When he spoke, he listened. In many ways he was a perfect student. Tutelage was one of his most prized moments between himself and the young Jedi.

Occasions had requested his keen senses to become attuned. Fastidious crafting molded him into an example of a studious Padawan. During the numerous training sessions he channeled his movements into and mind into a world that was once foreign and unknown. Now it was renown, a grounds at which he walked through and upon. Gestures summoned the wind of this reality a number of times. Objects of many kind went flying as the breeze unseen, and strong push only felt carried it off into the distance. Such practices had led the diligent Echani to work throughout the nights.

All fields of Jedi principles and skills had been pursued, at least to the young Padawan's knowledge. Infatuation and blind support led the attentive down many routes behind his newfound Jedi Master toward an onslaught of defeats. Every experience with held another required trait to spinning brain. Cards were added to his deck, but once it seemed the deck was going to be blown away.

Against the charred, slimy flesh of a Hutt an anguish and terror horrified him to no end. Rayna had taken up Jehkran's training with a genuine conviction, but she also cared for his commission. Omitting the objective was only foolish, and despite the odds she continued forth on his trail down the route to many slavers. Pop-ups of enslaved critters spaced across the galaxy, but when the Hutt appeared on Nar Shaddaa it was certain the duo had to tumble in for another challenge.

Hutt were infamous for their slavery policies. Many races fell under the iron vice of the race's prime individuals, without a chance for freedom. Even the great Darth Vader had once laid under the puppetry of the grim, late Jabba.

Yet this man was different. A darkness emit about him that Jehkran had never before detected. When he spoke a foam of slime and old food trickled down the being's sloppy lips. The slug was a personification of disgust. Even a glance in his direction gave the young Padawan an uneasiness. Despite the defense of his newly formed lightsaber he reserved his rebuttal for later. After the quick encounter, the duo came up short once more.

Enslavement was a trouble that the two could not handle a lone, and it only became worst as Bounty Hunters took notice to the credits above their heads. Prying was not the best way to avoid bids of death. Before the two could say "choobies" onslaughts of assaults pealed at the hull of their ship, and nearly fried them on occasions. If it was not for the Echani teaching's and Rayna lightsaber supervision Jehkran would have been a goner more than once.

So many thoughts came to mind when he simply closed his eyes. Even the night conversations they held. Rayna was the first he spoke about his past with. Detailed and briefed her on the troubled Echani life that forced him into an eternal shyness and introvert lifestyle. Those hardened times across the galaxy had shaped him into a resentful being for long, and only through his dreams could he see his past and a broken future.

Only three months had passed since the faithful day, but Jehkran felt something that lasted longer for Rayna. He was her Padawan, an underling, a fortress of her teachings, but somewhere he felt more. Sometimes he caught himself observing her for more reasons the replaying her moves. When she pranced about the ship, he carried an awe about him. He was certain to keep it hidden, but it was harder than a rancor's rear end.

A lot could change in three months, and it did.

From desert of Tatooine to surface of Telos IV, he had encounter many facets of the galaxy and escaped it in a blink. From the depths of his past, he washed the numerous slots of ideas away momentarily. Presently he needed to focus. There was a refuel mandatory before he unleashed himself.

In an outburst of agility and velocity, his still frame leaped from a meditative sit to a stand. The glow of a shimmering blade ignited as his hand demanded it without a single touch. In the incisive clasp of Jehkran's two hands a blade resonated at his side as he wrenched it into a practiced hold. Green lit his face, slightly disoriented in it's illumination by the sunray's piercing through from above. It was sometime around noon, and Jehkran was set for his spar.

"I'm ready."




Note: Chakta Sai Kae is an old Corellian toast.

[Rayna Eclipse]

"You're too choked up on the hilt." She said from her own fighting position. "It's not as heavy as a sword, you don't need to control it like one." She'd reminded him of that several times in the past training sessions. He was picking up on the skill with rather ease, having studied martial arts before; but no one was perfect from the get go.

In the two months she had been training Jehkran she had been avoiding lightsaber combat. Like her two lives seperated by a year long void, her lightsaber tactics and skills were completely different from one another. The old teaching, embodied in the hilt that she held in her hand, the lightsaber she built as a young girl. In the hands of Jehkran was the hilt she had used recently in her return to the Sith Order. A collection piece from the Jedi paraphernalia collecter and expert Anz'aak of Wayland, given to her as a gift in her mission to attack the Sith. For Rayna, the lightsaber symbolized an aggressive attack she had since grown used to and employed often. Once she never killed, now it seemed all to often.

She had taught Jehkran something akin to the defensive skills she had learned long ago. To teach him aggression would be contrary the Jedi, if she couldn't be the perfect Jedi then maybe he could in her place. As open as they had become with each other in the past two months, she still kept so much from him. The guilt had finally began to trickle into her consciousness as he began to share his past.

She stared between the two green blades to his eyes as each combatant took a step forward in the slow initiation of the spar.

She needed to share something about her past with him, anything. They had a conversation every night about a variety of things, from serious to shallow topics. She couldn't help but feel they never had a true conversation. Her feet danced along the waving grass as she shunned her thoughts from her mind, entering a mental realm of steady focus. She would say something tonight, her last thought dissipated as the noise of clashing lightsabers emerged from the blades.

[Ira Yahff]

The day faded, and the sun followed. Night crept into the sky, blending in a darkened mystique with the sun splash that suddenly dried. Instead of the breeze that once was, it was replaced by a gust of whistling wind from a cool breathe. An eased notion ran across it as it rummaged through the land seeking a resting point.

Telos IV carried many wonders, but it's surface was the truest beauty it held. Amidst the extravagance of the land the two Jedi rested. In the day that past they had indulged in a session of spars. Battle wounds wrestled over the youngest face. Numerous falls led him to the ground readily, leaving scuffs to his newfound outfit.

Over the tide of time he had altered his ways. Instead of the reclusive uniform he wore before, tattered with the trials of time, he wore an adorn attire. Robes and artistic garbs draped his frame for loose, fitting movements. Albeit the struggle of combat had not been daily, training was eternal. Almost everything required his body to take to effortless maneuvers at a turn. Anything could happened and his clothing professed such a concept.

A fire sat between the two, sparking from a fine platform of small logs, twigs and rocks. Such materials for camping were wide spread across the world, especially in the grass fields. Trees poked along the fields of green, while pebbles and rocks were drawn as perch to many critters. Creatures could be heard chirping in the emptiness of the fading sun. Soon the sounds would whitter, and return in the next day. Slumber was on the horizon as the day headed to the exit.

"What are we gunna talk about tonight?" Jehkran asked, his eyes shifting off to the sky. Sparkles of distant stars blanket the heavens. Despite the many adventures he took, the night sky always dazzled him.

[Rayna Eclipse]

''I dunno." She responded casually. It's funny how they expected it, the nightly conversation. It had become inevitable, the two couldn't help but talk, couldn't help but share. She resisted, always. They'd skitter around the topic of each other's past, revealing small details. The kind of things that never seemed to embarressing or shocking. She'd twist a truth to a half lie in a vain attempt to lift a weight of her chest.

Oxygen filled her lungs as the small fire's trance danced in her eyes. She felt him wait for her to speak, maybe it was just in her mind. "Jehk..." She started but her own body resisted turning thoughts to words. "I'm not perfect." She blurted. Did she expect him to think she was? "I mean, that's not quite the way... I wanted to say... it."

The fire twisted around a thick branch. "Have you ever done anything you regret? Became something you didn't like? I-" She struggled. "Not that... Do you understand what I'm trying to say?... I mean ask?"

[Ira Yahff]

The Echani's eyes pried and scrutinized. She carried a mist about her, that was certain. After almost every conversation amidst the darkness of night, whether on ground or in space was filled with a withdraw. Jehkran always felt she with held something, and here it finally crept out of the shadows. Once before he hoped for her to do it when he unloaded a few baggage from his past, but now was different.

"I understand."

Sunshine had left the world, and all that was left were the stars under the grip of emptiness. A void of ebony coated the heaven's and the many prizes that it gained over the years sparkled from far distances. Moments before Jehkran's eyes would have focused only on the beauty of it all, but instead his eyes had reverted to another subject. One which held many more trophies than space.

Rayna had bewitched him over the past months. Conversation after conversation led him deeper into her grasp. Now he stood beside her side as a dedicated, supportive Padawan. At times he did convert back to his old inclusive, thoughtful ways, but for the most part he was her possession.

An artifact of the Jedi to be molded like clay through her thoughts. However now, he could hold an impression. If she could tell him something, he might be an equal to her. As she said, she was not perfect and nor was he.

"What happened?"

[Rayna Eclipse]

His intuition helped her more than he could know. To answer 'what happened' would serve as a fair start; tell what happened, then explain its impact on her. Simply, right?

This was foolish. Say nothing and leave it alone for another day. She glanced at his inquiring face, she had to learn to trust him completely, as she expected from him. All it took was a simple decision, forget decision make it become instinct. "It started a few years ago..." The next words were easier. "I was part of a rebellion operation, seperate fom the Alliance, designed against the Sith. I took a mission to infiltrate the Sith Order on Korriban, to gain their trust and betray them."

It was as easy as reading the plot to a holomovie.

"Where it get's difficult is... my involvement. With the Sith." She sighed, how was she to say this properly. "It grew beyond what my task entailed." She could hardly go on, she didn't want to. She omitted the details in a vain effort to make everything seem alright. Jehkran was curious now, he would pry and she would give way. She was torn inside, part wanted him to leave it be another cried for him to give her the nudge to keep speaking.

[Ira Yahff]

Jehkran was studious. Echani found their emotions through battle, but motionless frames withheld the depths that overwhelmed them. Even with the guide of his new found, and trusted assistant the Force, he could not pry enough. The cool, cold blue amix the silver of his eyes tried to no avail to dig into the woman's soul. Many times he had tried to articulate what he saw.

She was a woman of divine status. An infatuation carried him down under as her support, providing his arms to lift her up. At times he showed his imperfection, and they slipped. Such times captured his mind for a moment as he gazed deeper into her. Memories of the Hutt and the chase that came during their departure of his mansion flushed his brain. He had been taken by mistakes, leaving Rayna to showcase her instinctively raw talents.

A few arms had been left severed, and the two were off to a safe haven. More than once she had saved him, and it hurt him to watch her troubled windows of her soul still not polished. He wanted to clean them, he wanted to do something to change her like she had done for him.

Defeat consumed him, and he opted for a sullen sigh.

"What else?"

[Rayna Eclipse]

She sighed again. "I fell in love with everything I stand against."

The memories trickled back. Loving another isn't as simple as the words so casually said. In a galaxy where such a concept had become so embellished, the words 'I love you' never mentioned the horrible truths behind what drove a person to feel that way.

"I loved him, and... I forsook myself for him." It was the same issue with her mission to take down the slavery ring, she didn't know that he truely believed her. She was afraid he believed that maybe she was exaggerating for sympathy. "I gave myself away on Korriban. The person you know now isn't who I was. It's as if there are two women. Two completely different people." Her voice resembled a decadent symphony as she fought back the tears. ''I killed her. And everyday I can feel her ashamed of me."

She sounded like she was mentally unstable. Like she had a split personality. She'd crossed the Rubicon now, she had to tell the rest no matter the consquences. His head would fill with questions, it would pain her to answer them. He had to know, he had the right.

"On Korriban, when I'd thought I was ready to go through with the mission... I betrayed the Sith. I made my alligences known and drew the Sith Knight who had trained me out and executed him. His other... apprentice. The one I... loved..." The scene had been replayed in her mind so often she could tell the story by heart.

Her voice had grown shaky now, she didn't want to stir to life the emotions she carefully tucked away. "I knew he'd come, I thought what we shared could bring him to the light. I was wrong. Everyone who had helped me in my efforts against the Sith were murdered, except for Nadja." Names of those she cared about returned to her mind, names she swore never to forget. "Then he came for me." She swallowed hard. "After I had been beaten, he took me to a cave owned by Southstar, his master, the one I fooled and betrayed..."

How was she to explain the significance of the cave? It was more than a bubble in the rock of Korriban, it was a hell of its own. "They called it the Dollhouse. It's a place-" She shook her head, she could never believe a living creature was capable of creating such a place. "They take prisoners. There's a side to the Force you've never seen Jehkran; A side so evil. Evil because of the men who abuse their gift." A flash of anger bore itself in a wave of sweat. Breathe, leave the anger behind. "The prisoners are experimented on. The Sith use the Force to deform and mangle people. They take memories with no regret. They create feelings, make men scream and weep. They take people's minds and change them to manipulate how they see fit, the Sith turn them into- into dolls."

Her hands shook, her mind protested going on her body resisted the growing emotion. "He did it to me. He took what I was, all because I gave myself to him." A teardrop trailed down her cheek. "The next year is empty, I was one of the lifeless dolls." Her chest heaved and her eyes grew red. The flood came and she surrendered to it. She could tell no more of her story, she could only weep.

"It's- It's not fair!" She moaned in a flurry of anger and sorrow. She dove into his blue and silver eyes looking for an answer, looking for hope, something to believe in, something to save her. To ask a question, she was barely capable of. For him to answer it, she hardly knew if he was capable. "Why me?" The incoherent words gushed from her mouth and she capitulated, wrapping her arms around Jehkran with nothing else left to say and only tears to offer.

[Ira Yahff]

The silver of Jehkran's eyes shined as he watched. Awe overwhelmed his brain, but could not flood through the gates of his distilled expression. He kept intent, prepared to swallow all the information whole. She was no experiment, but he wanted to study her, get to know her. Rayna had been a ball of secrecy for far too long for him to shrug off her stories.

Sympathy ran deep in him as he listened with intensity that could not be rivaled by the furious spar earlier. The one he had learned to call Master and friend had walked a road that very few could return. Now that she was before him, his arms could only restrain themselves are holding warding her away. He was the apprentice, the Padawan, but he wanted to be the Master once.

However, what he asked for showed itself. In a shimmer of glisten, her eyes displayed an agony that he had rarely seen in her. Over the tide of time he had been swept with the view of tears. War had terrorized his past when on Jabiim, and his father before him, but this was different. The agony was not a tear at the flesh, but at the soul underneath. Jehkran was not taught to cure such wounds.

Before he could repel the uncertainty he was thrown into a whirlwind of emotion expelled by his young Master. She delved into his hold, leaving his impulses as the only support. Off-beat reactions riddled his frame as his arm slowly, but surely, grappled about her being and held her close. All the comfort she required, he would happily give.

"Sometimes..." Jehkran began, his eyes flung to the sky. Stars still shined with their unique sparkle, but the tint of the heavens took the slight shimmer away. They didn't sparkle like they use to.

He could only sigh as he awaited the words to return to him. Although he had a few wise words to drop, maybe the timing wasn't perfect. Reassurance wasn't necessary, she needed present assistance.

Why me? He heard the words over and over in his head as he grabbed onto her. It was hard to decipher the jumble of his mind to develop the fitting words. He tried, though...like always.

"You'll be fine. Your gunna be okay," he whispered, running his hand across her head in smooth embrace. With him, he could only hope that she could keep her well. As the apprentice it was awkward, but as a friend it was only right.

[Rayna Eclipse]

"So I messed up real bad last night." Rayna said to Nadja as she sorted through a bin. She couldn't feel Jehkran in the area, perhaps he ventured out on his own, she recalled him earlier saying he'd like to investigate the area on his own. She'd been encouraging meditation, hopefully he was practicing.

"What do you mean 'messed up real bad.' How crazy could things have gotten?" She asked, looking up from the navigation charts on screen.

Rayna replied, "I think I may have told him too much about me."

Concern tinged Nadja's voice, "How much?"

She cast her eyes down and stopped moving her hands about the container. "The bad parts, about the Sith. Me and Jorshal. The Dollhouse."

"Oh." Nadja said with realization this was going to be a long talk. "You alright?"

In a sigh that barely resembled words Rayna said, "Yeah." She paused. ''I cried. It wasn't very proper of me, a knight shouldn't cry in the arms of her apprentice.''

Nadja didn't want to comment on that. "Did he take it well?"

Rayna gave only a curious look.

"Well I mean, you're pouring your guts out about an old boyfriend to a guy who obviously has a thing for you."

"He does not have a thing for me." Rayna assured. "And there's more to it than issues with an old boyfriend. It's so much more complex than that."

Nadja said, "I know. He's going to have a hard time making sense of it. I know you barely have it figured out, how's he going to? Did you tell him about the Aequitians on Sonne yet?''

''No, just the Sith. Nothing before or after."

"Ah, so you just shared the light stuff then. The road only gets rockier after this.'' Nadja said and glanced at the screen again.

"I'll break him in slowly, he's got to know sometime. It's only right."

"True. But you're afraid he'll reject you if he learns more." Nadja sounded confident. Working with a Force user that Rayna was so familiar with left no room for secrets.

So much for a long conversation. Rayna had no reply, she only returned to her work of sorting though parts and pieces to weaponry. Nadja was right, if Jehkran knew everything... he might leave or worse, he may hate her. Who was she, one who was hardly the perfect Jedi, to guide him the the path of the light?

[Ira Yahff]

Morning brisk swept over the planet in a spiral and twirl. Apt eased over, turning in minuscule spins. A sun nestled above, the splash of it's shine tainting the landscape below. Sparkles glisten from the dangling rays, stabbing through the white fluff that crowded the sky. Spare rays illuminated the azure heaven's, submerge in the white balls. Daybreak had past, and soon it would be the afternoon.

In the twist of space and time sat one in solitude admix the shift of life. Fixture of lull sunk into the pores of the land, disallowing even a chirp to whoosh over or murmur. Not a tremor lit the ground, shined by the bright sky. A content swig the world down, leaving only a galactic smile to represent Telos.

Jehkran was that man of isolation. Although the breeze brushed over at a serene pace, it still carried his white strands in a bundle. The threads of pearl flushed over his clenched eyes. Meditation had become a recent priority his, but nothing anew. Rayna's tutelage was simply a revisit to old lessons. Days of past had trickled over in his mind as his newly found Master spoke only days before.

She explained with a voice she could only carry. Even in his mind in mock, he could not do it without effort. At times the youth was swallowed in the moment of conversation, amazed at her ways. Always she stood with power, unmatched and supreme knowledge. The night previous had stained the image only slightly, and a smudge of his thumb had return the freshness. Just as always, he idolized his Master. The troubled Knight was still human, despite his beckon to her commands, and he liked that about her.

Yet these thoughts did not scold his mind into a fizzing boil. Instead, he drew a world. A planet of rain, disaster and anguish blossomed in the tranquility of his mind. He fester in the absurdity of it all, and watched the images flash across the screen of his concealed eyes. Precognition, recognition...it was something.

But, Jehkran did not open his eyes. Many times before he did, but this time would be different. He had to focus.

[Rayna Eclipse]

"I want to tell him more, but..." Rayna said as she set a rolled up sheet of paper to the counter along the wall of the living quarters. It'd been nearly a half a standard hour before either had said anything more.

"Go slower with him." Nadja cleared the screen which contained the navigation charts and stood up. ''I don't think you can afford to explode like this again."

Her hands unrolled the sheet of paper slowly, her mind was elsewhere. "I'll take it easy with him. But he does have a right to know."

Monotonously Nadja returned, "Agreed." She reached out and completely unrolled the sheet of paper, placing a glass and a book on each of her corners. "Give him a few days to stew. Then finish the story about the Sith."

"Yeah." Rayna whispered as she tried in vain to focus on the drawing before her.

"This is all you remember about Gerda the Hutt's place?" She said, helping to bring Rayna's mind into focus.

She nodded, "This is everywhere we went, everywhere we saw. I've marked what corridors I saw in red, the closed doors in blue."

"Ok, based on the above pictures I took while you two were in there, we've got about a twentieth of the palace mapped out. We can't go in just yet."

What was intended by Rayna to be a confrontation with the creature responsible for the slave ring had turned into a set up leaving Rayna and Jehkran largely underarmed. He knew they were coming. The man with the villa on Velskos 3 lead them straight to the hutt in charge, apparently he had warned that hutt as well. Standing at the center of a circle of heavily armed men had left Rayna embarressed at best. No longer had they the element of surprise, they had revealed themselves and lost a valuable ally in her battle against the slave ring. It was arrogant and foolish to run in like that, she knew it, Nadja knew it and she assumed Jehkran knew it as well.

"What's the plan, boss?" Nadja said as she glanced back at the aerial photos and then at the map.

"Go back with bigger guns." Rayna met Nadja's eyes. "The Halve Maen can pull of an aerial bombardment, or at least with the cloak on we can make it seem as if we have a fleet powerful enough to smash the palace to dust."

Have you not learned anything? Was what Nadja wanted to say, she withheld. "Okay." She pursed her lips for a moment.

"Cut off the head and the body will die." Rayna said matter-of-factly. "We can do it.''

"Cut off the head and two more grow back." Nadja said. "You're sure this will destroy the ring?"

A flash of heat waved over Rayna, why couldn't Nadja just agree? "I'm sure. With enough force anything will give way."

"Alright..." Nadja said and stepped away from Rayna's sketch of the floor plan. "Run it by Jehk then, we'll go from there."

"Fine." Rayna said and turned away from the paper bitterly. "I'll go now."

[Ira Yahff]

Sounds.

At first a crinkle, then it changed. The snippets of squabble echoed through his foresight and lit his brain. A void sat present, and sparkles of light animated the concealed realm. Behind the fascade of his calm exterior sat a raging rush of emotion. Overwhelmed with the flush of life, beings pesented themselves from enlightments in the once darkened world.

Faces contorted by squeezed view, ran about in their minimized plane. Life existed in turmoil as the fire emit about a building, while young and old felt the carnage swallow their last breathe. A wisp of a beam graced the scenery and split the whirlwind of anguish into two.

A body fell, and it ended. The sounds halted, and only a single face emit.

"Rayna!"

Jehkran's head popped from his silence, his head diverting with his eyes over his shoulder. Rayna was on her way, he could feel it.

[Rayna Eclipse]

She peered over at his eyes, he was hardly in a meditiative trance. It seemed more like he was resting while waiting. "Hey." She said.

His eyes opened, he seemed glad to see her.

She walked around his body to face him, stepping over large dew laden plants and flowers. "I want to ask you something." She paused, fighting off the awkward feelings of the previous night was difficulut. "About the... the mission, I guess it would be called."

She laid out a few sketches of her own depicting the situation and her strategy. "We can take this Hutt on, I don't care about how strong his palace may be. I think we can handle whatever he throws at us."

She pointed out her sketch of what she remembered. "I know this much from memory. I think if we stick to the same route as last time we should be able to force our way through to confront him and cut off the head of this slave ring."

She was leaving quite a few holes in the plan, the ones Nadja brought up and more. She could tackle them more easily if she let Jehkran find them. Hopefully he wouldn't. She said, "I really think now is the time to do this before any more lives are ruined."

[Ira Yahff]

Three months was a long time. The young introvert had converted into a brash, intellectual student of the Force. Rayna had allowed him to prosper under her tutelage. A guide of understanding accelerated his raw potential into a field of blossomed ability.

Even his mind had grown over the daily routines and practices. Events gave his keen senses a time to utilize his newly acquired talents. Acquainted with the difficulties before, Jehkran for saw situations clearer than most Padawan of any age.

Echani fuel on battle. Calculation gave the race all the attributes necessary to overcome stronger foe. An adversary could only bring out the best in the challenger. There was no wall that could not be hurdled without a proper start. Everything was relative to the youth. Teachings of Rayna and his days on Jabiim intertwined to web a savvy pupil. Observation was just another one of his grand expertise.

So, the adoloscent listened. He watched her as he always did, detailing her frame and words. For a sort while his mind was derailed by her being, but soon returned to the moment. Certainly she could not have notice, she did not before. An inhale parted her statement and his as he began, unfolding his legs to relax. They parted across the nutritious grass below. Scrutiny had ended, and the research was in need of a conclusion.

"I agree about one thing..." Jehkran voice strolled an accentuated calm. The attuned adult rasp, and depth of his voice mixed into the melody of his sly, smooth natural voice. It happened often. More or less, he sounded like a professional bachelor. Just like his father.

"We do need to the strike soon."

A smile parted the slim part of his lips as he stared into Rayna's eyes. The bottom of his lip was slightly sucked in at the right end, a restrained bite calling his mind back onto the matter. For some odd reason he felt bad.

"And hard.

But not full frontal. And the same route would be expected. I think we should get closer under a guise of sort. Do more research around and inside before we head in again."

The smile slit to the side, and formed a smirk. Beside the containment, he felt quite confident about his input. Hopefully this time it would matter.

"I mean, if that is alright with you."

[Rayna Eclipse]

If it's alright with her? No, it wasn't. Why was it that everyone seemed to be against her on this? Granted she asked for his opinion, she didn't expect him to disagree with her. She was beginning to fear perhaps she had given away too much of the authoritatian power she held over him the night before.

"So you don't think we can overpower them?" She asked rather forcefully. "I've waited a long time to find out where that slimy Hutt has been hiding and I swore that as soon as I did I was gonna put an end to his misery. It's been the plan, my plan, the whole time. Before you showed up-" Her voice abruptly ended. She was on the brink of yelling. She wanted to, she wanted to scream.

"I'm sorry, its-" Her tongue fumbled over words. "It's not you. I'm sorry." She glared at the ground, she didn't want to see his face. Never before had she come close to yelling, lately things were unravelling for her.

"Can we talk about this later?" The question was rhetorical, she didn't want to talk anymore. Without so much as a short glance upward she turned and left as quickly as possible.

Was it the lack of spice or the abundance of stress that made her shake? She blamed her body's unwillingness to function smoothly on both. Stressed was an understatement. It'd been nearly two days without a fix. Last night she had bore her soul to her apprentice, of which the past two months she had been trying to train; training an apprentice was harder than she ever thought. All the while since she woke up on Coronet she was haunted by misfortune and bad decisions. Now no one would agree with her. No one would help her.

She stormed up the ramp and into the ship with no regard to Nadja's head having poked out from the cockpit. Despite the calm and consistant functioning of the door to her room, frustration eminated from her; she would have slammed the door had she been able to.

Where the frell is it? She thought to herself as she yanked clothing from the dresser and sent it across the room. A small bag of spice lay exactly where she left it, the right corner of the middle drawer. How could she forget? Tearing into the little bag she dipped her finger into sandy substance and touched her tongue. She just needed a little more...

Her eyes fluttered as she leaned back to relax her body. Dizzyness overcame her as she tripped over herself and backed into the wall, her arm knocking over a bottle of perfume she rarely wore. Slowly her back slid down the surface of the wall until she sat absentmindedly in a puddle of perfume and broken glass.

[Ira Yahff]

Anger engulf her face as she spoke. Rayna internal had flared into a whirlwind, spiraling into turmoil. Foil before him, the youth could only stare puzzled. Clutter sent the Knight into a chaotic storm and slowly her words muster in distress.

The smooth facade she commonly garner had faded since the night before and her Padawan could only await the return. Remnants of her fluster pasted itself on her tongue as she began a yell of the wrong words.

Me?

Jehkran sat motionless, his eyes widened at the choice of words. Every letter slightly maximized his orbs until the sparkle gems details illustrated broken glass. Shatter before her eyes, he watched as her words stumbled over the dangerous shambles dripping from his eyes.

Before the conversation could continue she allowed only one last comment, and it came to an end. The catastrophic scold indulge had decimated him...slightly. As an intellect he maintained a logical empathy. She was still human, despite his rather idolized nature. Only time had denature her status.

No longer did she shine like a diamond. Jehkran glanced over his shoulder at the twinkling star from afar. Alone she supplied only a dim light, a minuscule enlightenment. For a moment he forgot who she was to him, and in replacement to the thought was shame. Embarrassment patterned his face as his head drooped down in contemplation.

He needed to meditate, but in his silence his mind re-engineered hope. Fueled by chance and choice, he flung into a stand and dashed after. Rayna had stamped off, imprints pressed into the grass floor below. Jehkran followed...he wanted to help.

Diligence and suave manner strolled him a top the ramp as his eyes survey the interior of the ship. Nadja's head popped once more out from the cockpit, her eyes throwing him off toward where Rayna had fleed. Never before had such a situation tarnished a conversation so readily, and he hoped his logic could mend it all. There would be no certainty if he never tried, so without heed Jehkran dashed off to the target.

Slowing to a near creep, his hand pressed it open for search of the troubled Master. Awe collapsed into his eyes, his hands at a shiver as he gripped tightly to the nearest object. A blink lost it's default and the moist of his eyes nearly dried underneath the heat before him. Laying across the surface was a nimble being. Frail under the cascade of hair, and body turned to debris. Demise perfumed the air, overwhelming the shattered glass that once contained a tasteful aroma. Disdain stained the youth's brain as his adrenaline burst to fling his mind to swallow the room whole.

Finally he blink, but it was still there. She was still there.

"Wha--

What..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slime crumpled over the hardened husk, moist from the sweat fitted by the room's heat. A tongue slushed from the slit opening, thick and bumpy. The tendril of taste tingled as it pressed against the smooth texture of a Falleen's skin beside. Compressed back in the hold of teeth and gums, it awaited it's next arrival. The owner lay motionless a top a large sled, his body exterior of obscene detail.

An over-sized slug, eyes humane but dazzled with danger stared off into the distance ahead. Beside him stood a motionless Falleen, the saliva trickling down her body forcing it into an uncomfortable chill. The superior nature of the race denature the moment, leaving it subtle in her mind. She simply stood there, attire in scantily wear awaiting the next trivial mishap.

The crowd of beings tatter the floor before them. Dancing about in fuel of fire, the body heat continue to muster new heights as the people took to exotic maneuvers. Flesh pressed against each other, forming a tide and sea of beings. All sorts of alienoids and humanoids were confined the grounds. Moving about effortlessly as the music pounded through their ears, they were swallowed by the moment.

At the head sat the Hutt, taking another bite from his finery delivered on a dish by an impish Bith. Many servants came and went, supplying treats as the Slave Lord eyes clasp onto the surrounding events. A laughter escaped his belly in a bellow, croaking over as a Jarrell and Gamorrean carried a prying Ganathan out for a talk.

All was too fun in the life of the Lord Hutt.

[Rayna Eclipse]

The crowd had been whispering amongst themselves for the past few days about the captured Ganathan. Most of the galaxy regarded them as insignificant beings worthy of at most, a laugh. They were a minor sentient species within Hutt space, rarely did a being from Ganath leave the planet's orbit; the species had yet to develope a hyperdrive.

"[Bring him forward]" The hutt boomed as the two guards renewed their force on the Ganathan.

Xau watched from a rather large chair with mild interest. Two fingers rest against his painted face, his chin held up by the palm of his hand. The fate of the Ganathan would not effect him, but if the thing was smart it would quit resisting and comply with the blob of slug's flesh sitting on a sled.

Someone was staring.

He did not flinch as he felt the gaze of a young boy watch on. Two X-faced droids stood on either side of Xau, he would use them as his eyes. There were seven droids in total, all linked together and reporting to his Force commands. What any one of them saw, he saw. What any one of them heard, he heard. Even the pain one felt surged like fire across his nerves. Power for a price.

He was just curious, the boy was, Xau had determined. He recognized the look on a child, he often saw it on his brother when they were children. As a matter of fact, the curious boy looked much like his brother, a strange coincidence. Both of them were children long ago. The black shadowing of his ocular sockets in contrast with the white paint that covered his face often drew attention, even in the Hutt-king's palace. He returned the stare for a moment, causing the boy to look elsewhere. Again he turned back to the Ganathan who seemed to have improved his situation. Death or slavery, which would it be?

[Ira Yahff]

Amuse as ever, the Hutt's eyes gawked down at the foolish Galathan. Under the cascade of the Hutt Space, he was a born to descend into the ranks of a slave. To event flood the intergalatic train without a yanking chain at his neck was a direct insult to the stance of the Hutt Empire. A snarl flared up at this slit lips, his tongue sliding out as his mind was pester by the very presence of the being.

The misshaped humanoid was a figure of dismissal to the Hutts. Instinct told the artculate slave trader to act without regret, and fuel of disdain. Attack without misery and end the Galatan native's life. The hands of the slithering being crumpled over into knuckles as his large orbs surveyed the scenery once more.

A week had past since the being had been into custody, daring to invade the privacy of the party held at his kingdom. Such endeavours were indirect assaults on the poweress of his drug trafficing and slave control. He had worked hard over the numerous years to merit respect, and then some low-rate sentient intends to stampede on his parade. Happenings of that sort were necessary to be accomodate with definitive displeasure.

Over the week the Galathan's pride was entagled with the troublesome torture from his underlings. Orders trickled down into the ranks, allowing the encounter of gundark to scare him, while weapons pierced his skin in cells. All the other slaves had been encourage to beat him down in hopes of gaining more notoriety and possible allowances out of their horrid life. None of the promises were attained, but it gave the Hutt a smile at the thought.

Disrespect only bargained for more disrespect, especially in the realm of the scum. The Hutt Empire only controlled it, it did not set all the rules.

"Sasto jij sltin Galanthan, huh?" The roar of the Hutt's voice echoed over the unoffical court. Only days before the room herald numerous high figures, but today was different. Instead of the faces of doom, dismal and hierachy, there was a single figure held down by the press of two formidable underlings of the Hutt.

"Yes," the Galanthan appeased. His voice had grown weak over the days of anguish and angst, leaving his eyes far smaller than before. Weakness wore into his bones and even his manuevers and gestures commanded discomfort. All he needed was a good time to sleep to awake ready for his oncoming duties.

The Hutt smiled once more. The distaste of the slime forced about his mouth was put on full display, as the disgruntle of his thoughts was kept subsided. He still wanted to kill him, but as he had said in his foreign language, the man would be a slave. Both sides of the option were equally painful, but the Hutt had grown a favoritism to demise. It was just so fun.

A nod was all that the Hutt supplied, and he soon waved his hand off to the side. The Galanthan was carried off into a distant room to fit for his sale. Soon he would be taken in at a low bid, and worked to death. Eventually the Hutt would gain what he craved. Galanthan weren't as hard-working as Wookie. They weren't prepared for the turmoil of such a hardened lifestyle.

"Thank you, Jibuu." The Galanthan whisper as he dragged himself out from the room.

Work had been done, and the Jibuu was in need for a few snacks.

--------------

[Rayna Eclipse]

Oh how he loathed the slave trade. Not that he had moral objections, Jarek simply objected to the work load involved in his station. He watched with disdain as the Ganathan was dragged off, that was his future problem right there. He would see that Ganathan in three standrard days.

"Damn it..." he incoherently mumbled as his lazily gesturing arm knocked a glass off the table.

"What's a matter Jarek? Too many ales?" A richly dressed man said, taking a seat next to him.

"What do you know?" Jarek mumbled and rested his forehead on the table amidst a pool of ale.

"I know this: you still can't get over my promotion, can you? I'll tell you, the slave trade is much prettier on the female side. More money, more women, more oppertunity."

"Aw shuddup.'' He mumbled with his head still against the table. "I work hard."

"And with nothing to show for it, my man." He crossed his leg and smiled. "You still seeing that beast of a woman? I traded my old lady in and got me one of them fine little Twi'lek girls. Does whatever I say and don't know any better."

"Uhhh..." Jarek mumbled. His only time off this week was that night and he blew about two days wages in the palace bar watching the Hutt have his fun. Meanwhile, jerks like Mael next to him cruised the galaxy with young, attractive, female slaves. Partied for days on end in casinos and clubs. The female slave trade was where the money was at.

"You're busting your back for nothing, man." Mael continued. "By the way, check out this new chronometer I picked up last week." He revealed his wrist. "That's twelve genuine, Corusca gems right there. Cost me a fortune."

"Mmmuh."

"Like I said, its a shame you're still pushing them boys around the astroids. I would have thought after that incident with the Jedi-girl on Nar Shadda, finding out her next move and all, would have really set you ahead. I mean-"

Jarek leapt across the table in a flimsy attempt to hit Mael in the jaw with his loose fist. He slid off the table and started to yell and scream as the crowd turned their attention to him, Mael slowly backing off into the crowd with a grin.

"Ooo!" An overweight Rodian noised as a Gamorrean hit Jarek over the head with the blunt end of his ax. She looked over towards the Hutt, he barely seemed to notice the outburst as a disfigured Wookie was dragged in by five more Gamorreans, each with a chain attached to the beast.