The Battle of Deominia

This picture, originally titled DESTROYE.jpg, was sent to me by a friend, and I have no idea where it was found.
If it looks familiar, please let me know who did it so that I can give the proper credit for its rendering!
With the uncommon architecture and the setting itself, this is how I envision Domen City on Deominia. Although the Victory-class Star Destroyers would be a rare occurrence, they can enter a planet's atmosphere and land or maintain a low orbit.

This archive contains many different story lines and angles. If, after reading this archive, you feel that I have left out something that could have been included please let me know.

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY STUDIED THIS PORTION OF THE ARCHIVE OF THE BATTLE OF DEOMINIA, MOVE ON TO PART II

Palpatine sat in his private throne room in the Imperial Palace on Imperial Center He was sitting behind his terrot-wood desk staring at five of his most trusted advisors: Prath Kissinger, Drosta Nertran, Siv-ayl Nudwran, Netar Thernoj, and Pratek Jaiaan.
They all had sour looks on their faces, and Prath was pacing around angrily.

Palpatine angrily slammed his datapad down on the desk. "How in the hell did this happen?" The ruler of twelve million worlds shook his head.
Over a public commchannel, Palpatine and his advisors could hear a news broadcast.

~The InterStellar News Network began publishing today the first in a series of nine thousand and forty seven volumes of top secret Imperial Papers relating to the war against the Rebellion. The documents reveal a systematic pattern of government lies about Imperial motives for the war....~ the com cut off sharply as Palpatine shut it off with the Force.

"Your Majesty," Plath began. "We are in a revolutionary situation. We are under siege--Rebels, the Grand Union; the State Department is leaking like a sieve. And now this little insignificant speck, Ell Istern, publishing all the diplomatic secrets of the Empire, is destroying our ability to conduct operations."

Palpatine got up from his chair, and glanced down at the bustling Imperial Center. "I'm as frustrated as you are, Plath, but don't you think this is an Alliance problem? They started the war; it makes them look bad."

Plath looked at the Emperor, trying to convey the seriousness of this to Palpatine. "Your Majesty," he started. "How can we look the Yevetha or the Ssi-ruuk in the eye now and have any credibility when any traitor can leak?!" Plath cleared his throat and continued on. "Even the Yevetha, tawdry little shits that they are, will never, NEVER, agree to secret negotiations with us. This makes you look like a weakling, Your Majesty." Plath hoped this would get the Emperor's full attention.

"Well," Palpatine growled, " It's your people who are talking to the press. Wasn't this Istern a student of yours at Chandrila?"

Plath was taken aback. "We-well, we taught a class together at a university, but you know these back-stabbing Chandrilan intellectuals-"

Palpatine turned on Plath, his stare cold. "No Plath, I don't."

She stepped up to the guards outside of Aria's detention cell, and dismissed them. She shrugged away the tears in her eyes as she entered the code to the door. When the door opened, Aria was surprised to see only one person standing there, and no blaster pointed at her, no less. "I am Commander Rachel O'Conner of the Imperial Star Destroyer Knightfall. You are welcome to leave this ship as soon as the repairs to your ship have been made. Come with me."

Aria followed the commander to a mess hall on that level, and was treated to a fine meal. A Technical Officer approached the table and waited until Rachel acknowledged him. Rachel was watching Aria as she ate. Finally the commander turned her gaze to the Technician. "Yes?"

"Commander O'Conner, the repairs to the smuggler's ship have been completed. It is clear to take off as soon as you are through interrogating her." he reported. He waited for some confirmation that she had heard.

Rachel looked at the Technician once more, and nodded, "Thank you Captain, that will be all." She then stood, and took Aria's plate as she stuffed the last morsel of food in her mouth. "You are free to leave. Come, I will show you to your ship."

Moments later....

She stood on the bridge of the Knightfall and watched as the smuggler entered hyperspace, then turned to the Navigation Officer to give an order. "Lieutenant, set our course for Deominia. I must speak with Lord de Devastator." Then she placed a senior officer in charge of the Knightfall and made her way to her quarters. 'I had to release her, I couldn't bring her into my Darkness for no reason at all. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.' Laying down on her bed once again, Commander Rachel O'Conner let out a soft, resigned whimper as she allowed the Dark Side to fill her. "....ooohh....Kyp...forgive me...."

A Sentinel-class shuttle appeared in space above Corellia. Arcana looked over the largest inhabited planet in the system, smiling down at the blue seas and the white clouds. It hadn't been home to him for a long time, but that's what it was, home.
He dropped into the atmosphere, and after navigating the planet's continents, landed professionally in a farmer's field like he had done it one thousand times before. Around the rural outpost was a small farmhouse and kilometers of various grain fields and other crops. He looked towards the house, and covered the distance between his ship and the door in a matter of seconds. He knocked loudly on it.

A frail woman, looking about seventy, opened the door. Her hair was silvery-white, her skin a light tan. Although she was old at first glance, she moved around as if she were as youthful as the plants that now grew in her fields.

"Mother," Arcana said, holding out his arms and grasping her in a hug.

His mother smiled down at him and returned the embrace. "You're back, Arkin!" she replied, calling him by his real name. "How we have missed you over the years!"

"Mother, where is father?"

"Oh, he's right over there," his mother replied, pointing to a man sleeping in a rocking chair. He also had a youthful appearance to him, although he was in his late seventies. "Sleeping, as usual. But not as much as he used to, son."

"That's excellent. Is he still flying?"

The two walked inside to the living room where his father slept. Arcana sat on the sofa while his mother claimed the other padded rocking chair. His mother laughed. "He is, you know! He wasn't cut out to be a farmer, although he loves plants. He still takes the old freighter out through the mountains to transport crops over to town."

Arcana laughed. His father had been a smuggler in his past, but he retired without ever being caught by the Empire. As a result, his family was familiar with his own interest in illegal cargo. One may have thought that they encouraged it, even.

"How are you doing now? I saw your new ship out in the fields."

Arcana nodded. "It was a gift from an Imperial Commander," he said.

Arcana's mother raised an eyebrow in interest. "The Empire? Have you been working with them now?"

The smuggler nodded his reply. "I've managed to get on good terms with a big-name Imperial called Domino de Devastator."

The old woman drew a quick breath. Almost as if his father had heard the name, he stopped the rocking of his chair.
"Domino de Devastator, huh?" his father said in a low, gruff voice. "Now, I've heard that name before. He's a powerful one, yes." He glared at his son, then tossed his head back in hearty laughter. "Boy, you sure learned from me!" He smiled and winked. "Get in good terms with the ones in power! You won't get killed that way!"

Arcana then just realized how luxurious his family lived. His parents had expensive art on the walls, very fine couches, and a lot of rare dishes lining the walls that weren't covered by art. The window in front of him was made of stained glass, obviously custom-crafted by a professional. It was a picture of a modified light freighter. No doubt his father's.

"Yes, I worked for Domino a little bit," Arcana's father continued. "Only for a little while, however. He then had to depart for some other business that was too far for me to handle. I don't know if he remembers me anymore. No, kid, don't mention my name to his face! Although it was lucrative working for him, you don't want others knowing."

Arcana nodded.

"So, how is business, Arkin?" his mother asked again.

"It was good," Arcana replied. "Lately, though, I've been swept up into too many battles for comfort. I think this man Domino has too many enemies for his own good. I've had to take out more than one Rebel ship on occasion when I jumped into his galaxy."

His father frowned. "War is not fun, my son. But it makes business."

"I usually transport arms, and when I'm not, I'm moving things that are for Domino's personal liking."

"You don't still have that trashy Lambda shuttle, do you?"

Arcana shook his head. "Uhh, well, dad, it's a gift from Domino. I have a Sentinel..."

His father lifted his thick eyebrows. "Sentinel-class, huh? Those things are strong. Ugly, but strong! You should be proud to get your hands on one of them! Only the best Imperial commanders use those!"

Arcana let out a breath. He was flying a rare shuttle... which just meant he was certainly a target for the Rebels.
The reunion with the family went on. Arcana ate with his parents.. a memorable dinner of spiced vrellaroot, trunkadorn-steak, and swegar kernels. In the evening he left to visit the grave of his sister.

Domino de Devastator was anxious to interrogate his latest prisoner. He took great pride and pleasure in his torturing techniques, but felt it prudent to wait until this particular subject had been nursed back to health first! With an air of arrogance, he passed through the outer door of the detention facility near his palace and approached the prison commander. "Lord Domino, this is an unexpected pleasure! Are you here to inspect the facilities?"

de Devastator glared into the eyes of the warden, "Commander, abstain from your banter. I am here to see the newest prisoner. I understand he is in good health?"

"Yes M'Lord!" the rebuked detention administrator replied. "He has been recovering well, and is ready for preliminary interrogation."

Domino reared up to full height at this. "So you deem yourself worthy of making such estimations? Who gave you such authority? Are you now the Chief High Interrogator, that you can determine this from observations? I should have you disciplined!" Domino continued to stare into the man's eyes for quite a while, then the man began to shake!

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO! M-m-my skin is melting before my eyes!!!! Please, Lord de Devastator!!!! Do not do this!! I have always been your humble and loyal servant!" the man cried out in fear.

The Sith Lord looked down at the pathetic wretch who was cringing at his feet. He felt no remorse for torturing this man in this manner. "Get up, oh worthless human!" Domino said to the whimpering fool. "You have proven yourself to be craven and without integrity! You shall be fed to my Julayps for a snack if I find you any less worthy than you are now!" With that, Domino stepped into the corridor that led to the holding chamber where his newest prisoner was.
Stepping into the cell, he greeted the prisoner in a cordial manner, "Hello, Admiral Ackbar. I trust you are feeling well?"

Arcana knelt by his sister's grave. It was in the middle of the swegarfields, and marked only by a large rock with a copper plate bolted into it. He read the inscription as he always did when he visited.

"A problem ignored is never a problem solved. To face the problem is to step in the right direction."

Mirala Tanns

Arcana bowed his head. His sister was killed by an assassin's bolt in the head. She had stolen important information from the Empire and sold it to the Rebel for a healthy sum. For years, she went on with her life. At first, the Empire did not note anything about her actions, but eventually, clues that she was going to be sought after kept on popping up. She ignored the tidbits, dismissing them as remnants of her conscience.
Eventually, a bounty hunter shot her at a drama production. She had ignored the problem long enough. It was almost a wordless method of communication through her to him that told him to ask the quote to be engraved into her plaque. Although she had never said it, somehow, the words came to Arcana as being hers.
He could not avenge his sister's death; the bounty hunter that shot her was immediately beaten to death by bystanders after the shooting. He had tried to discover who issued the call for the hunters, but he had failed in searching for the responsible party.
Arcana could not go against the Empire, however. His father knew that through the Empire was the safest way to transport goods and to get rich. He was not rich himself, but if one would look beyond the innocent farmhouse of his parent's house, they would see a miniature art gallery, full of rare and expensive works...
aquired only by those who were exceptionally rich.

He himself could manage to get rich some day. And perhaps, he could avenge his sister's death without any sort of trouble if he was careful enough.
Arcana stood up and started back towards the farmhouse.

Aria remained completely mystified as to why that lady let her go, but why look a gift gundark in the mouth. She quickly set course for a few lightyears away from the Imperial ship to see where it was going. Once out of hyperspace, Aria tapped into a panel hidden under her navicomputer and used some highly illegal gear to record the Imperial navigational activity in that area. In a few minutes she had what she needed, the coordinates to their next destination.

"I might make a little money on this venture after all. Let's see where these coordinates lead and maybe I can sell this to the Rebellion. Maybe I'll even be able to make back the credits I spent on this nifty machine."

Aria entered the coordinates and went into lightspeed. 'Next stop, the Empire...'

Rachel awoke feeling slightly sick. Sick of heart and mind. She had resolved the night before to stay in the Light, no matter what the cost might be, and only an hour or so later, she had given in to the dark side again. She scowled at the floor. She felt like slapping herself silly for letting the Dark Side back in. But somehow, last night, she hadn't been able to stop herself... It had felt so good to embrace the darkness, and it had called to her. And she had not been able to resist.
Rachel shuddered. No, she did not want to do that again. But what if it called her again? She wasn't so sure she could hold it back, not after last night. "I need a break." she muttered. "I need to go home. That's all there is to it. Gotta get away from all of this. Too close to the dark side here." She sighed. "But I can't. I have to see it through. I have to help the Rebellion. I have to..." She felt like screaming. It was so frustrating. She needed to stay here because she was the Alliance's best source of information, but she had to leave before she was dragged down by this darkness. 'Kyp...' she thought desperately. 'Oh, Kyp, forgive me. I can't take this any more. I can't!' She let her frustration become rage, and let the rage fill her. And almost immediately snapped out of it again. "NO!" she yelled. "I won't give in! I will not!" She knew she had to go home, and soon.

Flimmox sat on the cot, grinning as usual (as if he ever stopped). After a few minutes the smug expression melted as he rubbed at the back of his head, feeling the strange, circular lump for the umpteenth time in the past day. Certainly it wasn't a malignant tumor for there was an absence of headaches, and, furthermore, it didn't seem to grow. He pushed at it with a single claw and a ringing filled his ears which prompted him to stop. "Sithspawn!" he cursed, under his breath. He clenched his teeth until the putrid sound subsided, and let out a hissing sigh. He was beginning to feel as cramped as a rancor in a myrmin hole, and felt claustrophobia creeping into him. He shivered once, controlled a second tremor, and took to staring blankly at a nearby surveillance camera attached to the wall.
'I wonder if the wonderful Lord Domino treats all his visitors to penthouse apartments like this.' The thought came dripping with near tangible arrogance and sarcasm of which Flimmox prided himself.
'What I need is a little company.' As if on cue, the heavy durasteel door opened and a young, dark-haired man was tossed in beside him.
The man stood and rubbed his head and muttered, "Must've ran out of cells. This place is more cramped than a bacta tank."

Flimmox stared at the man and guessed that he was in his mid twenties. "And who might you be?" Flimmox inquired.

The young man turned and looked at his cellmate. "Someone who was flying a lone snubfighter to the wrong coordinates."

Flimmox stared at him. "I meant your

name."

The man nodded. "Oh. Gavin Darklighter."

It was the next morning. Arcana had said good-bye to his parents as he went up to the spaceport in Coronet to pick up some goods for shipping. He lifted off from the farm and flew the distance to the spaceport. He went to the commodity exchange to pick up basic trading items, equipment such as generic foods, wood, and iron. After buying those, he gave the clerk the secret keyword.
"Ashoota," he had whispered.

The human clerk nodded immediately, eyes lighting in fear. He reached under the counter and handed Arcana a package. He then led Arcana into a back room. The clerk opened a storeroom, then went inside, moved a light crate, and pressed a button. The wall opened up, revealing a corridor. The corridor led to a storeroom. The clerk then asked his men, who swore to secrecy about such dealings, to move the crates from the secret storeroom into Arcana's ship.

Arcana accessed the terminal outside of the storeroom, looking warily around himself to make sure no one else looked. He read the message for him.

~Transport the items you receive to Deominia. The package will be delivered to Domino. Do so personally.~

There was a rustle behind him as one of the movers accidentally nudged him as they passed. Arcana looked back, noting that he was a Wookiee wearing a green band around his neck and waist. Arcana looked down at the package in his hands. He let out a breath, then he was shown the way out of the secret room.
As he exited the back room, he noticed a few people waiting at the other lines. One in particular was staring at him. He was a Corellian male. The smuggler noticed that this man was not in the line for the commodities. Arcana glared back and exited the large room.

A Wookiee wearing a green belt walked up to the man at the back of the room. He whispered as quietly as a Wookiee possibly could.

"Yes, it's him," the man replied. "Come, Soracca, we must speak about this in private." The two exited the room casually. The Corellian led the Wookiee over to his office on the second level.
He passed through a door labeled "Legion of Corellian Traders". He navigated through a hall and opened the door to his office. Soracca followed, shutting the door behind him.
"Now, you report that you have seen Arcana's mission?"

The Wookiee replied in the affirmative.

"We have been meaning to punish the bastard for his doings. He doesn't realize what he has done to us."

Soracca said something.

"Yes, you're right. However, the shipment that hurt us the most was the personal delivery of Advanced Proton Torpedoes to Domino de Devastator. Domino then armed all of his flight groups with new missiles. He had planned to intercept our carriers to prevent shipping to the Rebellion.
"I'm sure you know the rest, Soracca. Domino's fleet took out five good escorts, our entire fleet of hired wingmen, and all our freighters. And he took out our capital ship!"

The Wookiee roared something in rage.

"My brother was killed too, Soracca," the Corellian said.
A knock interrupted them. The two Traders silenced themselves, then the Corellian answered the knock with one word. "Enter."

A leggy receptionist leaned inside. "Mister Tomrak Seidon, there is a message for you."

"Yes, thank you," the leader of the Legion of Corellian Traders replied. "Transfer it to my desk."

"Of course, Mister Seidon." The receptionist left the office.

Tomrak looked at Soracca before taking his call. "Did you get your men to install the tracking device? It is unfortunate that the information about the Deominian Cloud Mirala sold us was false. I suppose Mister Arcana will have to lead us there himself."

When the Knightfall arrived at Deominia, Rachel almost felt sick. Her life was so confusing now. The only thing she knew for sure now was that she had to go home to Yavin 4. The easiest way to do that, it seemed, was to resign her commission as an officer in the Imperial Navy. Secretly, she had qualms about meeting Domino face to face again. He had to have felt the impact of what she had done at Dantooine, and he would want to know why she had kept her Force-powers secret from him, Why she had lied to him. If he even suspected a thread of the truth, she would have no choice but to fight and flee Deominia as fast as possible, if she could. And then, there was the fact that she wasn't exactly pure anymore, and the Dark Side was very seductive. An encounter with him could easily push her over the razor edge she now tread.

She bit her lip hard enough to make it bleed, but barely noticed. Fear and dread curdled her insides, boiling like hot liquid metal in the pit of her stomach. She had dreamed up a thousand different lies, some more convincing than others, but found all of them lacking enough believability to get her by Domino. She wondered vaguely if she should take her lightsaber out of its hiding place, but decided against it. It would be a dead give-away should he happen to see it. Unclenching her fists and calming herself, Rachel waited for the confrontation she dreaded--but knew was inevitable. She prayed that she would manage to keep her cold, stoic manner and quick wit when Domino finally called her into his presence.

~Kyp, if I don't come home, I'm as good as dead, even if my body lives on.~ The thought was fleeting and distant, seeming to come from another lifetime, another person--but it was still dangerous. She smiled grimly. It was a little trick she'd had to learn when serving under Vader. Suppressing her true self had never been easy, but always necessary. Just in case Vader had probed her psychically, Dawn Marina Skywalker had been buried and forgotten. And now, she was pushed away again, down so deep that she almost didn't exist anymore. By the time Domino had called her in, she no longer feared him. She had no reason to. After all, she was Rachel O'Conner, and completely loyal to the Empire. She just wanted to retire. For the peace and quiet. Yes, that was it. Her name was Rachel O'Conner, And so was her soul. Now, if only the spark of Dawn Marina Skywalker Durron that remained could keep a tight rein on Rachel O'Conner.

He looked at his ship through a window to the docking bay. He sighed. Many people thought he was transporting some Imperial Commander, he bet. Good thing the cargo he had was legit this time... only sheets of Plasteel as opposed to Domino's personal likes. And the package.

Tomrak Seidon and his Wookiee friend looked into the docking bay. They saw the Sentinel-class shuttle on the dock.

"Do you have your detonators?" Tomrak asked.

The Wookiee growled an affirmative.

They opened their backpacks, checked to see if the smuggler was watching, and then strapped silver-colored packages to the side of the ship. Soracca roared when his job was finished.

"Yes, I'm almost done," Tomrak said, gluing the last strap in place.

Arcana took a look at his shuttle again. His eyes lit in alarm as he saw a Wookie and a human admiring his ship a little too closely. He jumped up, grabbed the package, and threw a coin at the bartender. the bartender failed to catch it, and instead ducked. The Imperial credit cleanly took out a bottle of wine.
It was a short run to the docking bay. He ran in and shouted to the two shady characters. "What in Sith are you two doing around my ship!"

The Wookiee roared loudly, but walked quickly in the direction of the human being. The human bellowed to Arcana quickly. "I'm sorry, sir, but we were admiring the ship." Arcana could not see his face at all because he moved so quickly. Almost before he knew it, the two were many meters away.. too far for Arcana to give chase.
The smuggler gave his ship a quick once over, but it wasn't a good enough check to see the silver explosives strapped on the underside. He shrugged and opened the hatch to enter. He sat down, leaned over to turn on his droid, and called for the Sentry to lift the docking bay force field.

Deominia... and that package... would be united. Arcana always counted on it. He lifted his ship off the ground with his repulsors, and then flew out into the dark vastness of space.

Below, the silver batteries lit with life and started to hum gently.

Plath looked at Palpatine. "Of course you don't, Majesty. I apologize. But Mon Mothma is a Chandrilan. Chandrilans are noted for their incredible stupidity. Especially the ones from Hanna, the capital city." Kissinger cleared his throat and continued on in his croaking, guttural accent. "Anyway, Lord, Istern has become a spicefiend! He's strafed peasants from airspeeders, has had sexual relations with Twi'lek slave girls in public, and he sees a psychopsychiatrist on Corellia. He's all messed up! And now he's trying to be a hero to the Rebellion...if he gets away with it, everyone will follow this fools lead. He must be stopped at all costs." Plath sat down, wiping the spittle from his chin.

Pratek Jaiaan glanced around the room. "Emperor," he said. "If I might?"

Palpatine nodded. "Yes, Jaiaan."

"I know how we can do this." The others in the room perked up. Jaiaan continued."Lord Domino in the Deominian Sector has a special battle group. A SpecForces type-of-thing. Alpha or Gamma battle group, I think. We could get them to figure out where this InterStellar News Network is broadcasting from."

Drosta Nertran scoffed. "We've had our best technicians on the ISNN matter. The best they've come up with is somewhere in the Corporate Sector."

"That's why we need a SpecForce."Jaiaan retorted. "They're not grounded here on Imperial Center."

Palpatine nodded again. "Pratek's right.The Ubiqtorate and ISB aren't doing the job. We need an independent force." He got up and circled the perimeter of the room, over to his smoke chest. He pulled out one of his rare Alderaanian cigarettes and lit it.
"You know, this kind of thing, you have to be brutal. A leak happens, the whole damn place should be slagged. Really. You do like Exar Kun in the Great Sith War. If he went down to a planet and a sniper hit one of his men, he'd line the whole damn town up and say: 'Until you talk, you're all getting shot.' I really think that's what has to be done."
The Emperor sat down again, dragging on his cigarette. "You are all dismissed."

One by one, the Emperor's Council shuffled out of the room.

When he was alone, he called down to the communications center. "Commander, send a Priority Violet communique to Lord Domino on Deominia. Tell him I wish to speak with him or his direct subordinate here on Coruscant right away."

Domino stood in his private sanctuary, pondering Mumar's plight, sending Force-induced healing energies to her. 'Soon, beloved, you will be hale and hearty again.' As he was preparing to exit his personal chambers, the door chime announced that someone wished to gain entrance to the room. Domino flipped a switch with a telekinetic nudge, and grabbed (again, telekinetically) the Imperial Lt. who waited on the other side of the door. "Lt. Gibron, what news prompts you to disturb my meditation?"

"My Lord..." Gibron began, somewhat stunned, "The Imperial Star Destroyer Devastating Glory has arrived from the battle at Centauri III. The vessel took severe damage from the engagement, but all damage sustained should be repairable. Captain Delsin captured three rebel starfighter pilots. These men are in detention cells as we speak. We placed one of them with that Wolven creature, for amusement."

Domino pondered for only a second, then replied. "Amusement? The Wolven will not attack his cellmate. Wolvens, what little I know of them, would not attack without just cause."
Domino paced from one end of the room to the other while Lieutenant Gibron waited patiently. Domino stopped pacing and said, "Lt. Gibron, assemble a full squad of Julayps. Send those eight to retrieve that Wolven, Flimmox, and have it brought to my hearing chamber. It is high time I met up with this creature."

20 minutes later, Domino was just entering the hearing chamber, flanked by Rayla and Marquis, as Lt. Gibron approached him again. "And what is it now, Lieutenant?"

The Imperial page was practically out of breath. "Lord Domino, The Knightfall has emerged from the cloud. Commander O'Conner wishes to have an audience with you as soon as you can meet with her."

"The Wolven can wait. Have the Julayps keep it with the rebel scum for a while." Domino replied. "I have a few things I would like to discuss with Commander Rachel O'Conner." Domino stood still for a moment, with a contemplative look on his face. 'I've been wondering about that disturbance in the Force she created at Dantooine for quite some time.'

Rayla looked to her master and spoke. "Lord? Why did you call Marquis and I back from the Bothwui operation before it was complete?"

Domino looked at his loyal servant. "I felt that the timing was off. You and Marquis could have been in danger of being caught had I allowed it to continue. That, and I have been hearing some unpleasant political rumors from Coruscant. Emperor Palpatine may need what ever help I can grant him, and as he is my master, you serve him as well."
Rayla appeared to be satisfied with this answer. Domino concluded. "Now, stand at my side. I need to have your presence when Commander O'Conner speaks with me."

Domino turned to face the door, as Rachel O'Conner entered the chamber. Rachel noted that Domino's personal assassins were standing on either side of him, poised to carry out the Dark Lord's nefarious wishes. 'This is not going to be easy!' Rachel thought.

Aria drifted out of hyperspace, 20 km from the purple cloud. Her instincts automatically told her she was at a secret Imperial location. She had heard stories of secret Imperial installations mentioned only with fear. No one knew of this location, for certain, until now.

"Now, if you had any sense you would contact the Rebellion and various smugglers guilds and start the bidding for the highest credit. Imperial vouchers only." Aria smiled as she began to record her position and bask in the money that she was surely going to make.
Suddenly, two ships appeared on her sensors.
"What the--?" She adjusted her flight plan to skirt just outside of their sensor range. "They seem to be waiting for someone. I wonder who?" Aria quickly chided herself on her musings. It always leads to trouble.
"Stuff it, just get the coordinates and hyper out of here."
She went back to work making sure that her flight path resembled that of space trash or asteroids. Nothing dangerous. Her sensors exploded around her again.
There was another ship coming into view, just past the first two. "Kinda busy for a secret location." She watched her sensors as the first two ships pursued the smaller one.
"This is going to get interesting," Aria muttered as she moved her ship in for a better view. She immediately recognized the lone ship as the one she disabled in the previous battle.
"Oh, I owe you one." She smirked as she followed the cat and mouse game going on. All of the ships entered the nebula like a space-based swoop obstacle race.

"Set course for Deominia, Essex."
The smuggler watched the droid set the course and pull the hyperspace lever. The stars began to stretch as the ship disappeared from sight.

Two modified freighters followed the Sentinel-class shuttle. One was a Corellian YT-1300 transport, which was the obsolete make that made up the foundation of the Millennium Falcon. The other one was a new Corellian NT-4600 transport which was shaped like a streamlined disk. The cockpit was towards the right side of the ship.

"Reylar Thons here," a human in the YT-1300 said. The other ship responded.

She was a female pilot, of a modified human stock. Her hair was streaked purple and brown, and her eyes were quite large for her face. There was a small Rodian in the cockpit beside her. "I have the Nav data, Thons," she said. "I'll be there to see Arcana blow up into little pieces."

"That's good, Conra, that is good. We, the Legion of Corellian Traders deserve to see the death of such a treacherous man."

Conra smiled, but her smile barely registered on the holo-image in Thons' ship. "And we will be well-paid if we can deliver good salvage and a body to Seidon!"

The two ships plotted their hyperspeed routes to match Arcana, and followed his ship into hyperspace.

Seventeen hours later....

Arcana reappeared just outside of the purple nebula of the Deominian cloud. The dust, rocks, and the nebula made the sensors useless and it hindered sight greatly as well. However, as natural as it seemed, it was not a simple space anomaly. The cloud was endowed with power from the Dark Side of the Force.
Arcana dove into the cloud, and prepared to turn right to avoid the large stand-still asteroid which lay in his path. However, just as he entered, his targeting computer read a missile lock.
That wasn't fun.

"Hello, Arcana," a female said. "I'm Conra Shein, bounty hunter and a member of the Legion of Corellian Traders. Maybe you recognize me."

He recognized her indeed. He had shot her ship to pieces once because she was stupid and clipped his wing during a battle. She was also stupid by giggling and apologizing like it was a joke.
Arcana didn't have a lot of patience in the past. But now, he knew that stupidity like that would get him killed. He increased the throttle. He could try to turn back out of the cloud....or he could navigate it and lose his pursuers.
If he lost the two ships, that would mean death for them.
"Well, let's keep going. Floor it, Essex!"
Arcana made the first turn expertly. Conra followed him into the cloud. Arcana grinned as he checked the rear. Her first mistake. Behind her was an ancient Corellian YT-1300. He was following too.
'They'll die for sure.' Arcana thought, laughing.

"Into the cloud!" Conra shouted to Thons. She followed the Sentinel, and immediately, her sensors went dead. Luckily, her eyes weren't large just to make her look enticing....her vision was better than the average humanoid. She followed Arcana in, making the turn as he did. Thons followed Conra as he turned.

"Damn it!" Reylar cursed as he saw his left shields go down as they grazed the asteroid.

Ahead of Conra was the traitor's ship. She fired off lasers, but they seemed to dissipate within the cloud. The trader switched to missiles. Since Arcana flew straight, it was easy to get a lock.

"She must've missed the first missile, but she's back with another one," Arcana said to his droid. "Ahh, it's the miniature supernova ahead four clicks. I believe Domino is rather proud of that one. Well, I'm ready." Arcana increased his throttle even more and then dove moments before a star exploded. His top shields depleted as remnants of a star dissipated over his top shields. Before he could fly the Deominian Cloud, he had to get a shield upgrade for his old shuttle since the star would wear it down almost to the hull. Right now, his top shield was at fifty percent.

Conra had to shield her eyes from a sharp glare. It seemed that something exceptionally bright exploded just ahead of her. She misfired her missile, and as she looked back after the explosion passed, she realized that burning fragments were wearing at her shields faster than she could imagine. She dove quickly to follow the smuggler, but as she went down, she heard a crack and a snap as the top laser cannon broke into pieces. Just after she dove, the star exploded again, sending flaming pieces and hot gases across her rear shields.

Reylar was lucky to make it through. He felt the wear of Conra's star exploding, and watched as the shielding wore down to almost nothing. As he dove to follow, the star exploded again behind him. A damage report told him that he had no more top shielding, and that the hull was beginning to melt due to the heat.

Arcana lifted an eyebrow as he checked the rear again. They were still in pursuit. He lost his carefree demeanor now. If they lived past the supernova, then that was something to be proud of. He took a quick right, another left, and a left again to avoid obstacles. Then he saw what appeared to be a huge rotating beam of light. He watched it for a moment, then timed it just right so he could blast through without being sliced by the rapidly-turning shaft. He had to veer to avoid a few asteroids, then he was ready to face the next few obstacles. Flying the cloud was like flying a really dangerous and deadly obstacle course. It was actually a little worse than that.
'Ha! The odds of flying through an asteroid field are somewhere around three-thousand seven-hundred twenty to one. The odds of flying the Deominian Cloud were much less. They are zip.' Arcana thought, smugly.
The smuggler ducked under a huge rock, then flew inside what seemed to be like a huge lightning storm. He dodged one way, around another way, and under a bolt. As he checked his rear for his pursuers, he cursed. They were still following him.

Conra was totally pale-faced. She was surprised she had lived so long. There were those huge asteroids, then there was that rotating lightbeam which nipped the back of her engine. She stared forward as she flew into a field which seemed alive with lightning. The bounty hunter and trader flew right, then rolled right again. Behind her, Reylar followed. But not for long.
His old ship flew directly into the Force Lightning. She gasped in horror as she saw the ship disintegrate, but quickly turned her attention back to flying. The image haunted her, though. His ship had instantly turned into ash and powder upon contact with the bolt! He didn't explode, he wasn't electrocuted. He dissolved into dust.

Arcana grinned as he saw the old ship disappear from his rear view. He concentrated on the obstacles ahead. The Cloud wasn't even half-done yet. 'This is an ingenious set of traps by the de Devastator clan.' Arcana thought. 'It must've taken centuries to do all of this.' Arcana looked ahead and watched for the ring of fire. The ring of fire was exactly that; a ring of fire. However, it was so narrow that it allowed only a one-man fighter to go through. Any sort of error would be deadly. He held his flightstick absolutely still as he flew through the flaming ring. Although the space beyond seemed like it was empty, it was really surrounded by Force energies.

One wrong move, and a ship was annihilated.

Luckily, Conra didn't know that. She had flown through the ring, but then she veered upwards to try to get a good shot at the ship in front of her. As soon as she moved, her ship exploded into tiny pieces.

Arcana sighed in relief, lowered his throttle, and grinned. When he made it through the cloud, he could have bragging rights... the first smuggler to fly through the first half of the Deominian Cloud at over 100 MGLT. However, he wasn't stupid enough to try to race through the second half. He went through carefully and cautiously, noting the pathways, the obstacles, and the turns that he had to make to survive. Hey, it was the Deominian Cloud. And folks thought the Kesssel Run was bad....

The explosives, unaffected by the flight, ticked closer and closer to zero.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This exceptional piece of writing details one of the only pathways in or out of the cloud. There are only two more, which allow for larger vessels to pas through. Arcana knows only this flight path. If you ever read this Arcana, you get 25 points for this piece of work alone!

'Darklighter? Now where have I heard that name?' Flimmox took a moment to look the young man over before speaking. "So," he said, "What're you in here for? Another one of the esteemed Lord Domino's guests?" Gavin shook his head for a tacit "no" as he looked over the strange alien before him. "What?" Flimmox said, "ain't you ever seen a Wolven before?"

A light of recognition sparked in Gavin's eyes the moment Flimmox spoke the word Wolven. "Wolven? You mean the species on the other side of that hyperspace wormhole?"

Flimmox shrugged and flashed a toothy smile. "Yup. What about it? It ain't like we're some kinda alien entity commin' to take over, or nothin'."

Gavin blushed slightly, then controlled it. "Well, I know," he said sheepishly, "it's just that, well, I've heard about you guys, but I've never met one."

Flimmox sighed sardonically, crossed his arms over his thick-furred chest, and leaned back against the wall. "Well, yippee-yea, let's make an exhibit outta me. The marketing would be great," Flimmox remarked, his voice dripping with more arrogance than Gavin could have ever imagined, "Stuffed toys alone would bring in a bundle."

Gavin killed a smile tugging at his lips, making an effort to remain inscrutable. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Sorry, nothin'," Flimmox cut him off, "I've got a skin thicker than a Rebel's skull."

Gavin seemed to be taken slightly aback, but regained his composure. "That's, ah, pretty thick," Gavin said, his eyes shifting from Flimmox's. He decided to change the subject. "I don't think I caught your name."

Flimmox cocked his wolfish head, "Oh, really? Flimmox Reqayas Danzzire, what's it to ya?"

Gavin looked straight into Flimmox's luminous blue eyes. "Hey, I just wanted to know if I'd recognize it. There are some Wolven names floating about, you know. Kind of like the Jedi Master Glacia Wolvenstone, and then there's also Ashifer Stevanaunt who's come up missing." The names struck something deep inside of Flimmox, although he could not tell what. The name Glacia had a familiar ring to it that he could not place . . . "Flimmox . . . ?" Gavin said, "are you okay?"

A tremor passed through Flimmox's body causing his fur to stick out in every direction. "Uh, yeah," he said, "I'm fine." He began to smooth down the fur with his paw-hands and refused to look Gavin in the eyes. "Just that . . . those names seem familiar, yet so . . . foreign."

As soon as she was in the location that the other ships originally started from, her sensors went on the fritz. Aria had to choke down her brief fear. "We'll just have to do this the old fashion way. Let's see, I stretch out with my senses."

Aria could sense what felt like the entire universe from here. The feeling was enticing and almost hypnotic. It took her whole being not to be pulled into the feel of it all. With a deep breath, she focused on the ships ahead as they dip into the clouds. She could sense the shift in the space as things collided? "The cloud hides ASTEROIDS!" she exclaimed. "This might be harder than I thought."

Taking a moment, Aria punched in a course through the nebula. She was straining so hard with her senses, Aria had stopped breathing so many times. She had lost the ships ahead but she forgot about them and soon just worried about surviving this trip. Aria banked sharply as two asteroids came directly into her path, barely squeezing her ship through before they collided. "Concentrate!" she chided herself. Before she knew it, she was out of the asteroid field.
She could barely make out the three ships up ahead, heading towards a rotating lightbeam. "Oh, brother!" Aria began to concentrate again. This was going to be a long day!
Before the Bandork's Revenge could even get to the rotating light, a sharp piercing light filled her cockpit. "So, do we have supernovas around her regularly or did they do that just for me?" She mused, sarcastically, as she accelerated, hoping to leave that mischief behind.
By the time she made it through the rotating light that looked familiarly like a lightsaber, Aria was exhausted. She was not used to using her senses to this degree. Even as she breathed, another warning in her mind went off. Suddenly, her surroundings were filled with lightning and she watched the ship ahead of her disintegrate. "Force Lightning?" Aria forgot about her past exhaustion and concentrated fully on the task ahead. Straight ahead was a flaming circle. Aria check her figures and her ship would make it....barely. But she couldn't move a nanometer to the left or right. Just as she came to that conclusion the silver ship made it through and the other ship veered slightly. That was their last mistake. With resolve, Aria bit her lower lip and she proceeded through the flame.

When she made it through the cloud, Aria was absolutely exhausted, but overjoyed. she gave out a warrior's cry of elation. She had not made that sound in so long she startled herself. Moments later her sensors came back on line and she could see the silver ship had gotten a great distance ahead of her. "Fine with me. I need a break. Let's just see where you are going my friend."
She reached under her control panel to reveal another carefully hidden computer and activated it. The computer began pulling all of the exterior and interior information it could from the other ship. "Oh, it's a new ship. Well, at least the scrap will be worth something." Something on the data readout caught Aria's attention.
"I wonder if he knows he has a detonator on that ship?" Aria puzzled as she gave Arcana's ship more exploding space. "I may not have to even shoot my lasers at him."

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you take a look at Domino's profile you will se that the Deominian cloud messes with sensors and drains the stamina of people who attempt to use the Force to seek their way through that way. Aria did a fine job showing that in her post.

Arcana swerved around another asteroid. He looked ahead, seeing the purple haze clear before him. His sensors began to work again.
Arcana swore loudly as he saw a red blip on his screen. He gasped in astonishment as he realized that a ship had followed him through the Deominian Cloud. He thought for a moment to turn around and fire a quick volley of lasers. But whoever could mirror his actions and get through the Deominian Cloud could not be any ordinary human being. They had to either be in league with Domino, or they had to be pretty damn good with the Force. The smuggler sighed. He was an absolute nobody in terms of Force Power. Then there was this....

"We have battled the ship before," Essex said suddenly, cutting through Arcana's thoughts.

Arcana nodded rather sarcastically. "Thanks for telling me that. Well, let's do this.... get in the turret, Essex."
The smuggler flew casually, trying to buy time as his droid creeped into the Ion Cannon turret in the top of his ship. He saw an asteroid, cut sharply to the left, then suddenly swung his ship completely around.

The Bandork's Revenge was suddenly facing four ion cannon bursts, six laser shots, and two missiles.
Aria had to dive sharply to avoid the weapons. But Arcana smiled as his concussion hit the front shielding hard and sharp. Her worn shields took the impact, but they buckled under the pressure of the lasers.

"Haha," Arcana laughed as he circled quickly around Aria. He glanced at his radar, steered to get the ship in his sights, and then prepared to fire again.

And Arcana heard an explosion.

The smuggler was tossed hard against the front of his ship, and he received a warning from the computer. "Warning, cabin depressurizing." In a moment of remorse, he saw his droid be forcibly ejected out of the top turret, likely through the glass. Arcana stood and then knelt down, opening drawers and trying to find a vacuum suit to put on before the cabin would lose its air.
A hissing sound distracted him. He looked back to see the cabin doors closing. As he glanced through, he saw a huge hole in the bottom of his ship.

"Cabin doors closed and locked," the computer reported. "Cabin pressure stable."

Arcana checked the damage report. There was no shielding left, no engine power, and his cargo hold was almost blown out. He cursed. There was still Aria up in front of him.. the person he inadvertently angered. Arcana frowned. This wasn't a good thing.
Another explosion rocked his ship, turning it forward on its nose. A third one twisted it many times sideways. Arcana suddenly felt himself floating as the artificial gravity was knocked out. He saw pieces of mangled metal and plastic outside of the window. The cockpit was beginning to heat up. Arcana wondered why he wasn't dead yet.

A piece of flimsiplast floated by his window and somehow managed to attach itself. Arcana managed to read the few words on it.

"...llian Traders expl...." he sounded out. "Corellian Traders explosive device?" he whispered, wondering why the traders identified their bombs.

Probably to let their victim know who killed them.

Only thing was, Arcana wasn't dead. The smuggler looked at the oxygen levels. He had about an hour.

Arcana moved towards the instrument panel and hit the "Communications" button. He had to talk to Aria.

Annoyed. Aria was very annoyed. To think she was pulling out to see if that detonator was actually going to go off. Then this creep had the nerve to hit her shields with a concussion missile. And now that his little ship is in itty-bitty pieces, he wanted to talk. "Well, don't hold your breath, you rancid piece of filth. If I get my shields back on line time enough to save you, I might."
Aria slipped out of her chair and reached under the console to pull out her toolkit. Setting her spot shields on maximum, she sauntered back to the engine room to begin repairs. It was a slightly involved task of realigning the shields and by-passing a few systems to get them back on line but her conscience made her work quicker than she wanted to.
'I wonder if...'
No longer able to ignore the damaged ship, Aria ran to her cockpit and hit the com panel. She growled, "If you want a rescue, this had better be a great deal. Oh and I have a scan on your ship. Your oxygen level isn't going to last much longer than thirty minutes. Better make it a short plea."

Conscience clear, Aria sat back and waited for his best offer. "Oh, and I want a name. Whoever is brave enough to hit me with concussions should be willing to give his name."

Arcana sighed as he floated on the verge of Deominia. His shuttle was not beyond repair. However, he had lost a lot of cargo. He saw pieces of
blaster rifles, missile launchers, and even full containers that were undamaged by the blast. Maybe he would start wearing a vacuum suit....

Well, he had half an hour to live. "Look, Aria, I have a little load here worth.... what is it, twenty thousand credits? If you can salvage those containers, you'll get at least ten thousand." He glanced on the package that was floating around the cabin. He wouldn't let that one leave his hands. The package alone was worth almost five thousand.

"And what else... look Aria, you're going to be in a lot of trouble when Domino de Devastator finds out... if you let me vouch for you, he might decide to listen and only toss you to his rancor for a duel instead of chucking you into his pool of electric eels."
He waited for her response. "Oh, did I ask you how exactly you're leaving? You can't exactly come out the way you went in. Without me.... what are you going to do?"
His ship turned over again, showing Arcana the painful sight of his awesome shield generator that was damaged. A person with a tractor beam and skilled engineers could easily put that on their own ship.
He waited impatiently for Aria's reply.
"Oh, yes, by the way, my name is Arcana."

Lt. Delthane Voss was sitting at the helm of the Victory Star Destroyer Advantage watching and waiting for nothing. He was jerked out of complacency by the emergence of two ships from the cloud that surrounded the Deominian system. One was immediately identified, by the sensor operator, as the ship of the smuggler, Arcana. The other ship was identified as the Bandork's Revenge. Lt Voss was just about to inform Commander Ta'fras about the ships, when he saw the first explosion! Commander Ta'fras saw it too.

"Lt. Voss, What was that?" Ta'fras demanded.

Voss answered at once. "Commander, it is the ship of the smuggler, Arcana. He has received damage." He replied as the second explosion was observed.

Ta'fras didn't hesitate. "Helm, ahead full! Let's help Lord Domino's pet smuggler, and capture the miscreant who would dare to enter the sacred space surrounding Deominia!"

As the third explosion shook the Imperial Sentinel-class shuttle from front to back, Advantage moved into position. With precision, it placed tractor beams on the

two smuggler vessels. Arcana's, to aid him in delivering his cargo to the Dark Lord Domino, Aria's, to levy a punishment for trespassing.

~...name is Arcana.~ With a smile of triumph, Aria maneuvered her ship toward the injured ship. It was such a nice piece of machinery. 'I could get five hundred thousand credits easily, if it were in one piece.' She was snapped out of her daydream by a tug on her ship. Just as she was moving along side the ship someone else tractored hers.
Aria went on the defensive, trying to put some mass between her and the uninvited Star Destroyer. "This place is busier than Corellia....and it is a major trading planet."
She managed to slide her ship behind a mass of what looked like Arcana's engine. The tractor lock on her decreased some and she dropped all power to her shields and milked the engine for all the strength it could provide. With a quick jerk, Aria shot out of the tractor beam like a scared womprat...only to be locked in another tractor beam.

~Pilot of Bandork's Revenge, we request that you cease your struggles. You have trespassed into private space, known to very few. You will face judgement by Lord Domino de Devastator, himself.~

Checking her systems, Aria realized she wouldn't have enough energy to break the beam anyway, in a few minutes the beam was going to start ripping her ship apart. She tried another means of escape.
Activating the com-switch she hailed the Star Destroyer. "This is Seynar Rubin from the Mechis System, I was uncertain who had locked onto our ships. I have permission to land on Deominia and collect some rare specimens from the planet. My comrade--" What did he say his name was, oh yeah, "--Arcana, has led me through the nebula but unfortunately someone rigged his ship with a detonator. It blew just as we got through the nebula. We would like assistance if you can."
Aria sat back and hoped her story was believable. Her ship was registered as a collector of exotic and extinct animals, maybe her cover wouldn't fail. She wasn't crazy enough to register this ship under her real name, very few knew her real name anyway. As long as that loud mouth smuggler didn't say anything, they would believe her.

Arcana sat inside his disabled ship, watching pieces of it and his cargo float by. He had grudgingly made the offer to Aria... if she didn't accept it, then he was finished. But he saw her ship, through his cracked window, move towards his.
Behind her, a Victory-Class Star Destroyer loomed in the distance. He was saved!
He tried not to laugh as he saw Aria's ship being pulled by a powerful tractor beam into the docking bay. Arcana extended a hand to grip the package that was en route to Domino. This was the important one. He had trusted it to be delivered to him personally. Arcana looked at the label which said "Corellian Traders". He wondered if he could get Domino to punish those freaks for him... but then again, he was in no position to order Domino de Devastator around.
He tried to move to his radio, and hit a few buttons. He realized that there was no sound left. The thing must have died on him in the last few seconds. Arcana cursed and hit the console with his hand. That was another repair that had to be made.

The tractor beam pulled him into the docking bay. Hopefully, he'd be able to leave the place in one piece. And he hoped that the smuggler Aria would get into some major trouble for intruding. Hopefully, those pilots there would recognize him and save him. 'I am important to Domino.' he told himself. 'The Dark Lord himself has spoken to me face to face. Very few people can say they have faced Domino and looked him in the eyes.'
The smuggler took the lightsaber that he held behind the captain's seat and casually flicked it on. He didn't know how to use one, but the yellow beam of light was awfully ugly. He preferred a red or green one himself.

He deactivated the lightsaber and waited as he was sealed into the cargo hold of the Star Destroyer.

Aria carefully hid her hold-out blaster and slipped her vibroknives into a less than visible area on her lower ankle. She also holstered her broken heavy blaster to her hip. With a swoosh she had her braided hair pulled up and pinned before the Star Destroyer began to move her ship into the dock. Just as her ship reach the premise of the daunting ship, Aria's stomach flopped. Doubts flooded her thoughts and she had to use a calming technique to clear her mind.
"Get a hold of yourself, if they sniff fear they will use it against you."
The pep talk didn't work and she started to get nervous again, "How could you get captured by Imperials twice?" She felt the ship dock on the VSD and moved toward the hatch. Attempting another calming breath, Aria finally squelched her nervousness moments before her hatch was open and she faced eight stormtroopers and a variety of other Imperial officers. With a smile of appreciation, Aria stepped off the ship.

"Thank you for helping me and Arcana out. I was unsure as to whether I would be able to save him in time. As I said, I am Seynar Rubin and I appreciate it if you could drop me off planet side so that I could begin my research and collection of some of the animals indigenous to the planet." Her speech had startled the group but as soon as she took a breath three stormtroopers roughly shoved her in the direction of the commanding officer.

"Hey, careful." Trying to keep up appearances, Aria blustered on, "Is Arcana safe? I don't know who would have rigged a bomb on his ship,"
'I would have, but someone beat me too it.'
"I would like to see him if you--" Another rough shove silenced anything else Aria might have said. She stood before the commanding officer.
"I am Seynar Rubin, Commander Ta'fras, and I appreciate your assistance greatly." With another smile, Aria prayed her cover would work.

Arcana was let off of the ship graciously. His weapon, a highly illegal heavy blaster, was strapped in clear sight on his hip. He had a Jedi lightsaber on his belt as well. In his arm was a small package that was about a six cubic inches in size.
"Thanks for letting me off this ship, sir," he said politely to the troopers. He glanced over at Aria. She was being roughed up by stormtroopers. He glared at her for a moment, and she looked straight back. Arcana knew that although he wasn't in power here, he had more power than she did.
He heard her try an escape route. She identified herself as Seynar Rubin, and was sucking up to the Imperial Officer by addressing him by name. She was also acting with false concern for himself, the smuggler.

One of the Lieutenants of the Armed Forces lifted a hand and asked for Arcana's weapons. Arcana dutifully handed his blaster and the lightsaber over. He wondered if Aria noticed his Lightsaber. Perhaps she would think that he was more to reckon with than she thought.

"Could I retire to a guest room?" Arcana asked, taking a step towards the exit.

The Lieutenant held up a hand. "Not so fast. I want you to identify that smuggler. Yes, the female one over there."

Arcana glanced in her direction and wondered if she heard the guard. "Her name is...." he started, taking a look at Aria. It was about time he turned her in.
She had caused enough trouble already.

Arcana pointed to the female with reddish-copper hair. "Aria Ka Djo. Yes, that's her name."

Aria took a glance back at him. Her heart sank as she heard Arcana tell her true name. On Dathomir a traitor would be fed to the Rancor's. 'Oops, I am a traitor. Rancor stew, that is what I will be if he doesn't say that I followed him through that nebula willingly. Serve me up dead!' Aria sighed, but never let an ounce of bravado slip from her fiery eyes. Then she faced the Imperial Officers once again, ever-defiant.

'And ever-fearful of her life?' Arcana thought as he touched the spot on his belt where he strapped his lightsaber. It was a weapon he had found after a cowardly Jedi pilot ejected himself after getting his ship captured. There were so many new Jedi drop-outs ever since Luke Skywalker and his sister Leia opened a little Jedi school. He suddenly looked up, wondering why he suddenly thought that stuff about the school. He didn't care for anyone except for himself and the few people he loved. Arcana took a glance at Aria as the Commander asked her a few more questions.

"Well, you seem to be a fine speaker, Miss.... Djo." Commander Ta'fras let the name out with a sneer. "Your little friend over there seems to have revealed your identity to us. Such a beautiful relationship you two have."

Aria stared back.

"I'm not sure if I should let Domino deal with you, or if should just throw you to the Rancors. Someone who navigates the Deominian Cloud by following another ship certainly can't be any ordinary human being. And if Domino doesn't have a use for you, he may want to..." Ta'fras raised his voice to accentuate the seriousness of the situation, "... demonstrate the consequences in a painful and vicious way." He looked at the stormtroopers. "Take her away!"

Arcana stepped forward, breaking through the arms of the stormtrooper regiment that contained him. He briskly stepped towards the commander and was about to face him directly when a stormtrooper broke in between the men. Arcana took a deep breath as his heartbeat began to race. "I told her where to go."

There was a moment of silence. Commander Ta'fras looked between the two smugglers. He didn't know what to ask.

"I let her follow me through," Arcana repeated, letting his shoulders relax. "She....." Arcana gulped, "..is a friend of mine." He stretched his neck out a bit farther, and he felt his back getting hot as he realized that he was tossing himself into warmer and warmer water. "Let her stay under my supervision."

Ta'fras glared at Arcana. "She gave us a different name, smuggler."

Arcana casually glanced at the officer and began to let himself show through. He shrugged, raising his palms. "Phht, well how am I supposed to know what name she gives you??" He clicked his tongue and ran his fingers through his brown hair. "Look, for Sith's sake, I don't even know all of her little aliases." He looked at Ta'fras' confused face for a second, but for only a second. He shifted his package from his right hand to his left.

Arcana reached for Aria's hand. "Come on, let's go planet side. I'll show you around. Lord de Devastator is expecting me." he said, leading her away from the semi-circle of stormtroopers.

'Resigning? Imperial officers of Rachel's caliber don't resign! They get promoted to levels of importance within the main fleet and then get annihilated in a glorious battle!' Domino thought.
"Commander O'Conner," the Dark Lord began, "This is most disturbing to me. Indeed, for I have been hoping to discuss matters of grave importance with you."

Rachel tried hard to keep her nervous swallow imperceptible, but noted that Rayla had caught it. "Lord Domino, I have come to the realization that I am only going to get older, and I feel the time may be appropriate for me to think of a more quiet lifestyle." Rachel had put that in her resignation report, thinking that this reason would be the most acceptable.

Rachel studied the Dark Lord's countenance. 'He is so hard to read. I can not figure out what he is thinking.'

Domino's countenance mutated from steely cold regard to devilish amusement. "Rachel, you have served the Empire and I well for many years. I feel like, by just allowing you to walk out of here, I would not only be losing a valuable navy commander, but a surrogate daughter." Domino rose from his Ewok bone throne and began to walk around Rachel, who was uncertain whether to rotate to follow him with her eyes, or to keep faced forward to keep the assassins in sight. She decided to shut her eyes.
"Now Rachel, I am disappointed to hold your resignation file in my hands, but I am even more disappointed that you would hide some precious talents from the Empire, and from me." Rachel's eyes popped open as she felt Domino clasp his right hand on her chin. "You are sensitive to the Force, and quite accomplished in its workings. You hid this for a reason." He let her chin go, turned around, and walked back to his throne. "And you thought I would never find you out? Arrogance! Pure and simple!" Domino paused.
"I sense that you have more secrets. It is time to bare witness to these mysteries!"

Rachel used every ounce of will within her to stay calm. She remained silent.

"Ah, but you will tell me everything, Rachel. You will tell me about these convoluted riddles." Domino sat patiently. Rachel stood, not knowing what to say. Thoughts of flight raced through her mind, yet she knew that de Devastator's palace was not only full of the most brutal and efficient guards, but she had heard rumors of Sithspawn as well. She stood her ground, Waiting for an opportunity.
Suddenly, panic struck her as she felt an abrupt tightening feeling inside her head.

The Dark Lord smiled, malignantly, "You most certainly feel the Force.......as it is now squeezing your brain as the Alderaanian winepresses of old once squeezed the precious fruit of the vine for its nectar. I have reached the threshold of my patience! You will tell me who you are and why you are intending to flee the Empire, or you will die!"

Mumar arose from her medical bed, feeling refreshed and full of a new purpose. "Hecate, gather the women, we are leaving."

Hecate quickly glanced, "But mistress, why?"

Mumar sighed a breath of exasperation. "A familiar presence is beckoning me to Korriban, we must go back to our citadel there."

Hecate shook her head, "What about Lord Domino?"

Mumar half sneered, "He has his own endeavors, his own destiny. We are only to remain partners in the Sith, not in life."

Hecate bowed to her mistress. "As you wish, my mistress." she said as she helped Mumar dress in her red gown.

"What do you mean, that you took a job with out knowing the details?" Alex yelled at her R2 droid, Screamer. He beeped. "Ok, find that person and wire the money back into their account." Her droid whistled something in a almost sorrowful tone."500,000 credits? Whoa! Whatever it is, it must be important."
Alex shook her head. This would be the most money she had since her time on Credtua. She smiled grimly, 'Oh well it could be worse I could be working for the Empire. Now that's something I don't ever want to do. Not since they killed Killiam.'
"Ok fine we are taking the job. But no more messing with what we trade, You understand?" The droid beeped, and Alex rolled her eyes. "So when am I supposed to meet this guy? What name did you give him? I know you couldn't have used my real name. Any idiot from the Rebel Alliance would recognize it." She looked at the droid expectantly.
She walked to the computer module and keyed in the passwords to access the main computer of the Ice Princess. She scanned her list of things to do. Screamer had updated it, adding a meeting with a representative of the Alliance, under the name Darina Lumas. Alex thought bleakly, 'As long as I am getting paid for it.'

Alex changed into a tight blue jump suit that accentuated her eyes. She put up her long blond hair up in an elegant braid imitating one of the hair styles she had seen Princess Leia wearing. She put on her ankle boots and stood up.
She told her droid not to leave the planet or the ship. She locked the door and hoped that for once her droid would listen to her.
She began to walk toward the bar where she was to meet her contact. She only hoped this wasn't going to bring her into working with the Rebellion again. 'Not after that nasty treason trial.' What did she have to worry about? 'They've probably forgotten about that. After all, it was over 10 years ago.'

Gavin Darklighter stared at the nearest wall for no apparent reason, most likely because it was just there. 'I've got to get outta here before I go crazy!' The walls seemed to close upon him as a wave of claustrophobia grabbed him. He trembled once and the feeling dissipated leaving only a small emotional scar in its wake. 'How long must this go on!'

The Wolven on the cot below him stirred and spoke, "About as long as it takes to rot."

Gavin's eyes widened and he choked down his surprise. "Let me guess, you're a Jedi!" he said.

Flimmox yawned with a flash of long, white canines, "I dunno. Readin' thoughts is just one of those things I seem to be able to do. Pilf! I don't even no what a Jedi really is, but somehow I do some extraordinary things."

Gavin climbed off the cot and gave Flimmox a perplexed look. "Pilf . . .?" he repeated.

"Excretion. Vulgar. A Wolven curse." Flimmox sat up, "And also when you mentioned that Glacia Wolvenstone character I knew I had never met her, but I could see her face plain as Tatooine."

Gavin was taken aback by that last remark, "I happen to come from Tatooine, but I'll agree with you. It is pretty plain."

Flimmox laughed once and then rubbed the strange knot on his head. "Well, if that wimp of an Imp does not talk to me soon, I'll dig my way out of here and find some Ssi-ruuvi Convoy and convince them to blow this fortress sky-high." Flimmox raked his claws over the durasteel wall behind him, leaving marks in the metal.

"You probably could dig out," Gavin said, rubbing a finger over the gouges.

Flimmox stuck a paw out in front of his face and began admiring the claws. "I would, but I'd ruin this perfectly good manicure," he joked in a higher voice.

Gavin burst out laughing, "I'm glad you have a sense of humor, or I'd already be dead from boredom."

Flimmox only grinned toothily. "Maybe I should go into stand-up," he said.

Aria bit back her surprise and kept her face unreadable as Arcana entered the ring of stormtroopers. Silently she followed him, keeping her senses alert for any sign of betrayal. She wondered if she would be able to move an object with her mind, her abilities were very rusty and never that good in the first place. Neither smuggler spoke until the turbolifts doors closed.

"Why did you rescue me from those...xerana, after revealing my true identity, and what do you plan to do now?"

Arcana ignored her for a moment but then asked, "What is a xerana?"

"You didn't answer my first question, Arcana," she growled.

"Didn't feel like it." he swallowed down his nervousness as his hand slowly played over the lightsaber. Aria huffed, he probably didn't even know how to turn it on. "What is a xerana?"

She took a threatening step towards him, he didn't budge. Giving up, Aria leaned on the wall. "A xerana is a small predatory creature on my planet that only hunts creatures weaker and smaller than them. If the prey attacks the xerana, these predators are quick to run for cover, allowing their true cowardice to show."

"Oh, that explains your show of bravado."

Aria just glared at him. "Why did you save me and what do you plan to do now?"

"We are back at those questions again."

"I will continue to ask until you answer or you are dead, preferably the latter.

"Kill me and you won't get four meters in this fortress."

"The satisfaction of killing you might well be worth it."

He ignored her and exited the turbolifts.

"Why do you refuse to answer me?"

"Why do you continue to ask questions I don't have an answer for?"

"Maybe because you never TOLD me you had no answer."

He stopped suddenly in the hall and spun on her, his voice was a deadly whisper. "Understand two things. One, Lord Domino is going to kill me when, not if, when he finds out what I did and two, I don't like a lot of questions. Okay!"

She watched him briskly approach a door and enter a code, blocking her from seeing the actual code. "Too bad I don't care what happens to you or what you like," she muttered, entering the room behind him.

She stood at the entrance of the apartment while he went here and there picking up and moving things. He never put down the box. Annoyed Aria plopped down on the floor cross legged, blocking the exit.

"You know, there are chairs here."

"I prefer the floor."

"Suits me." He left the room.

Aria got up to examine the code box on his door. She was concentrating on trying to pull the code off like she had seen a master do in one of the holocrons. She was concentrating so hard, she didn't hear him come back in the room.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

She refused to answer him.

"Look, the only way YOU and I are going to survive long enough to get off this planet is if I deliver this package to Lord Domino unharmed and you don't run around the fortress blasting everyone. I have to go meet Lord Domino and I need to know that you are going to stay where I put you. Understand?"

"You too are xerana."

"No, I'm not. I am just a profiteer, who likes to live long enough to spend his profits. I don't really care what happens to you once we get off this planet, but for now anything you do will get me in more trouble than I already am."

"Why are you so sure I couldn't make it out of here on my own."

"You are Jedi right? You have to be because somehow you have followed me through that nebula. Well, a Jedi MASTER could not escape this fortress. Lord Domino is strong in the Force--the Dark Side."

She took his words into serious consideration. "I don't have anything else to do now. So I guess I can stay for a while."

That was as close to a promise as Arcana was going to get so he moved towards the door.

"Since we are going to be spending a lot of time together. I am Aria. Aria Ka Djo of Dathomir."

Grand Vizier Skien Graize entered the foyer of the detention area, and approached the duty officer. "Where is the Wolven? I was told it would be brought straight to me." the ruthless looking man said.

"Grand Vizier, what a surprise." the duty officer said. "I was told to delay Lord Domino's orders to gather the Wolven. I was instructed to wait until...."

~Detention, this is General Thorndry. Make certain that the Wolven prisoner is ready, immediately, for removal. The Grand Vizier is on his way down to collect the creature.~

The duty officer merely directed two guards, with four Julayps, to bring Flimmox out to the foyer, as the Grand Vizier watched in approving menace. The foyer had four guards (including the two who went to get Flimmox), four stormtroopers, and four Julayps. This was a small number in comparison to the number of guards in the actual detention blocks. Vizier Graize had two Julayps and his personal assistant, Grand Lady of Darkness, Tionne, with him.

To say that the Wolven came unpeacefully would be an understatement, however a touch of assurance from the Grand Vizier brought Flimmox to a state of unconsciousness, and therefore, easily transported to the interrogation chamber. This was where the talents of the Grand Vizier and the Grand Lady of Darkness were put to the best use. Being Sith adept didn't hurt matters, as they were able to use terrifying hallucinations and torturous agonies to plague their subjects into submission (and hence, Tionne's other titles: Mistress of Agony and Ultimate Administrator of Wickedness).

Several minutes later....

Flimmox stirred, and noticed that he was restrained by manacles that were more than a match for his strength. "Pilf! Where is the Dark Lord? I have asked to speak with him, and him alone." Flimmox snarled.

The two Julayps there in the room began to look bloodthirsty, and Vizier Graize only chuckled. "Patience my friend! You will see Domino de Devastator soon enough. he merely wishes to let you know what he thinks of uninvited guests on Deominia. In particular, uninvited guests who can negotiate an astronomical anomaly that is supposed to be nigh impossible to traverse. Shall we begin your interrogation now, or will you tell us how you found your way through the cloud?"

Domino paused, as he held Rachel's brain in a Force-vice. 'What is this? Another presence? How is it that the "Force-sensitive" folk of the galaxy are finding their way to my doorstep?'

Domino continued to hold Rachel with the Force as he called his servants.

~My children. There is an intruder In the guest wing. Seek them out! Bring them to me!~

Meanwhile...

Aria sat, performing a calm-inducing meditation, as the doorchime announced a visitor.

Out in the hallway, four Julayps were waiting, ready to pounce!

Rachel tried to jerk her head away, but somehow couldn't. 'NO!' something in her yelled in panic, but another, larger part of her was suddenly angry. Enraged, even. She feared she would not see her husband again, would not see her children again....and it would be Domino's fault. She felt like screaming, like lashing out, like killing! She could not let him kill her, she could NOT! Anger built inside her like pressure in a volcano.
She barely felt Aria's presence, barely noticed what happened....but she did feel Domino's hold on her lessen--infinitesimally, but it did weaken--and only for a fraction of a second...but it was enough.
She struck out blindly with the Force, with all the rage and hatred and desperation that had been bottled up in her, twisting away with all her might. She found herself in a sudden freefall, without Domino holding her in one place. As she crawled away, she tried to understand what she had done, and could only tell from the pained look on Domino's face that she had used the Dark Side to hurt him.
Rayla and Marquis were already moving toward her, but she did not care. They did not matter. Nor did her facade. Not anymore. She let her illusion fall apart, and she was only a blonde-hair, blue-eyed Jedi Master in an Imperial uniform. She struck out with the Force again, this time with more control, and sent Rayla and Marquis slamming into the far wall. Then she was on her feet again, and scrambling toward the door. She thought she heard Domino moan her name, her real name, in shock, but she couldn't tell. It didn't matter if he knew the truth now.
She paused at the door, and turned to stare at him, knowing he would be immobile for a while yet. "If you thought a Jedi Master couldn't earn your trust, if you thought that nothing so obvious could slip past you for so long, then you are the arrogant one. I knew I could get away with it for a long time because I've done it before. With Vader and the Emperor. It wasn't arrogance--it was confidence."
Turning her heel on him, and the Empire, for the last time, Dawn Marina Skywalker Durron fled.

Lord Martel of Galactic Nerakan Empire had never felt better in his life. He had entered the palace of one of Palpatine's underlings, undetected. This palace belonged to the Sith Lord, Tolac Neel. Tolac Neel had unwittingly attacked a Nerakan Imperator Warbird, the Nelerati, destroying its crew of Drakkarim warriors, and its entire cargo of energon torpedoes. The energon torpedoes were an experimental projectile weapon that unleashed immense amount of Force energy, channeled by the organic torpedo casing. The casing was made of cloned flesh of known Force-sensitive creatures and cybernetically grafted and implanted into the microfusion generator. Emperor Nelazriel had been working on these torpedoes for over fifty years, only to have decades of work destroyed by this foolish Sith lord.

Martel walked down the corridor, cloaking himself from the passing Imperials by clouding their perceptions with the Force. He was also using his Force talents to conceal his Force-signature from that idiot, Tolac. The rough edges of his lightsaber were biting into the skin of his hand, and he kept his free hand near the disruptor pistol slung low on his hip. Martel didn't see the need for the disruptor, but he kept it with him anyway.

Martel crept slowly up to the door to Tolac's throne room. 'Hah! Nelazriel's throne room would make Tolac's look like a cesspool.' Martel scanned the hall, making certain no Imperials were around, then dropped his Force-cloak. He pressed the OPEN key and walked through the door.
He was immediately repulsed by what he saw. Not even Nelazriel, the basest and most vile being he had ever known, would defile himself the way Tolac was. Banthas, female Wookiee slaves, and a Cracian thumper were all involved in some vile sexual perversion as Tolac reveled in the pleasures of this perversion. Martel gagged as this image burned itself in his memory forever. He would take much more pleasure in this now. He drew his disruptor and quickly vaporized the creatures engaged in the twisted sex acts.

Tolac quickly covered himself with a robe and screamed in a shrill voice, "What in the name of the Fire Rings of Fornax are you doing!"

Martel kept silent, striding forward towards Tolac. He ignited his lightsaber. "Arm yourself." Tolac stared blankly at him. "Arm yourself," Martel repeated. Tolac looked around his throne for his saber frantically, and when he found it, drew it to himself with telekinesis. "Who are you?" Tolac asked breathlessly.

Martel fought back the impulse to say 'I am justice' and said, "I am Lord Martel of the Nerakan Empire."

Tolac was still tired from his little workout, and lunged at his enemy clumsily. Martel quickly sidestepped out of the way, and kicked his enemy square in the stomach as Tolac fell to the floor.He reached out with the Force to crush the man's favorite part of his anatomy, when something stopped him.

~Finish this Martel. Do not take pleasure in destroying your enemy. He may have sunk himself in debauchery, but do not make him suffer. I have taught you better than this.Just finish it.~

Martel released his grip, and swung his lightsaber down, shearing through the man's torso. He twitched slightly and then disappeared. Apparently the Force did not wish this Sith Lord's presence fouling up the galaxy any more than it had already.
Martel employed the Force to cloak himself once more and stalked out of the throne room. The first threat to his plan had been destroyed. The other Sith Lords would give him a harder time, but for now, this victory would prove adequate.

Mumar packed up her belongings and had her women load up her ship, Song of Circe.
She prepared a holomessage for Lord Domino.

~Lord de Devastator, forgive me. I have some urgent business on Korriban. I have grave reason to travel to my citadel there.
I will still be your partner in resurrecting The Sith, ending the Rebellion, and destroying Luke Skywalker, but I must go.
Please forgive me. We are bound by the Dark Side.~

When Alex reached the Bar "Space Spice" she thought, 'Calling this place a dive would elevate it's standings 10 or 20 places on the scale.'
She order some Corellian ale and sat down in a corner booth to wait for her contact. A Humanoid male of a species she did not recall soon approached her booth.

"You seem pretty lonely. Mind if I sit with you, honey?" the alien managed to say. It was obvious that the alien had imbibed one too many drinks.

"No thanks I am waiting for someone." Alex told the alien.

"You saying that you rather sit with someone other then me, sweetie?"

"Yes and please leave me alone!" Alex said through clenched teeth. She was getting mad.

The alien reached over and grabbed her. " Now listen here, dear! You are coming with me. Understand that honey?"

Alex rolled her eyes and twisted the aliens arm. "I don't go with anyone if I don't want to." She twisted hard, the alien fell down on his knees. She grabbed her blaster and pointed it at his head. "You understand this?" Alex asked the alien.

"Yes, yes! Thos won't bother the nice lady anymore."

Alex raised one eyebrow. "GO! I don't need to waste my time on such scum." Alex released Thos who scampered to his feet. "And don't call me sweetie!" Alex yelled at the retreating alien. 'That should keep the natives from approaching me for a while.' She hoped her contact, some one known as Lance Hendrikson, would get here soon.

Hendrikson undid the button on the top of his holster as he stood outside the cantina "Space Spice." If this place was as dangerous as it looked, he might need to pull a quick shot or two off.
Hendrikson walked up to the automatic door and passed through security; a fat Gamorrean who was snoring loudly.

Hendrikson stepped into the dark, dank bar and got a Greelix Groupie, a strong drink that would blow the shoes off of anyone with a weak stomach. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a ten credit chip and a piece of flimsy with a picture and a description of this smuggler character he was supposed to meet.

"To be honest, I don't even know why I was picked to do this assignment. I'm a commander, not an Intelligence operative." Hendrikson murmured to himself. He studied the picture and looked around. "There she is." He said. He took his drink and slid into the seat across from her. "Someone told me you're interested in doing a shipment job for us?"

"Who wants to know?" She replied coolly.

"Major Lance Hendrikson. You're Darina Lumas?"

"The same.."

"Here's the deal: you pick up a shipment of our Gemini missiles at these coordinates." He slipped her a datapad. "After that, head to the second set of coordinates and deliver the missiles. Make sure to safeguard your ship. If the Imps find you with Geminis they'll take them and imprison you. Be cautious. Any questions?"

Domino was reeling from the Force blow. 'I let my guard down. I'll deal with her another time. I must compose myself.'
"Rayla! Marquis! Let her go." Domino ordered, to the surprise of his assassins. "She has tainted herself with the Dark Side, and inadvertently bonded us through the Force! I know another way to deal with her. Allow her to leave Deominia, but not in the Knightfall! She forfeit that when she resigned from Imperial service." Domino always felt good about his ability to show levity when stricken throughout his body with pain.

Marina was surprised to find herself in the hangar, and in her shuttle with no interference. 'I'll need to get out of here as hastily as I can. Then I need to work on cleansing my spirit of the Darkness that I've allowed myself to be a part of.'

"There are guests at the door, do you wish for me to let them in. Voice verification please."

Aria was startled out of her brooding by the sound of the visitors' announcer. 'Well, don't expect me to answer that!' she thought and went back to going through Arcana's personal effects. Nothing of value, yet.

"There are guests at the door, do you wish for me to let them in. Voice verification please."

"I must blast that voice announcer," she smirked. Arcana had nothing interesting to go through but she knew it would irk him when he returned, so she continued to dig through his things.

"There are guests at the door, do you wish for me to let them in. Voice verification please."

The hairs on the back of Aria's neck bristled and she turned to the door outside the bedroom. Concentrating, she tried to sense the intruders. She felt their hostility moments before Arcana's door was a thing of the past. "So much for the promise not to blast this place." She flicked her wrist and her hold out blaster was in her hands, firing away at these creatures.
The battle was short but to Aria's pleasure, whoever sent those things were short by two. Before she passed out, she sent out a message that hopefully some force-sensitive would hear, ~HELP ME!~ With the last of her energies used up, Aria fell into the pleasant surrender of unconsciousness.

Mumar sneered as Anticlea gave her some disturbing news regarding their time of departure. "How much blood to I have to spill?"
Mumar looked to the commander of her forces, "Hecate? hand me your cleft blade." Hecate handed her the blade and Mumar cut her in half with it. "I'll need a moment alone girls." Mumar went into her personal chambers to gather the last of her things.

Zannah shouted, "Ok ladies, let's clean up this mess here. Cleopatra, wrap her in black satineel and prepare her for a decent burial on Korriban, next to her many sisters that our mistress has killed." Cleopatra nodded and took the body away.

Mumar reappeared, holding a bag, "Ok ladies, let's move out." The women made their way to the Song of Circe. Mumar took one last look, she tried to push back a tear from her eye, but one got through. She boarded the ship with her strength and a sense of awareness. She could not get over the feeling that something was telling her to be careful.

Arcana marched down the hall with his package in hand. He sighed deeply. He had no idea why he saved Aria Ka Djo's life back in the hanger bay there. He shook his head. 'She hadn't managed to influence my mind that much, had she?'
As he passed the docking bay, he saw a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes run by him quickly, as if being pursued by her worst nightmare. Arcana took a glance back as she turned the corner, likely to the docking bay. He stopped in the middle of the hall. There was something that wasn't right here. It was as if she were a prisoner and she were trying to escape.

Just like Aria was a prisoner in his room...
...And just like he was a prisoner to the vices of Domino de Devastator and his infinite reserves of cash.
Arcana looked down at the package, wondering what sort of evil may be lurking within. Perhaps it was a tool required for his personal pleasures, or maybe it was something for his dear Mumar. Maybe it was a device to torture people who accidentally wandered in, or people who dared to defy him. Arcana took a glance back at the woman who had ran past him. He turned around and started running after her.
He met up with her in the docking bay, just in time to see her board a spare Imperial Shuttle. "Hey, are you in trouble?" he asked, wondering if she could hear a thing he was saying. "Do you need help?" He looked up at the cockpit, hoping to catch a glimpse of her face again.

He saw nothing.
But he wondered if she heard him.

After a half-minute, Arcana realized what he had shouted. He had offered to help her... just like how helped Aria get out of her situation. It was like a plague or something. Why did he suddenly... what was...?

He hoped that whoever that woman was, her predicament could tell him something about this place. Something that he did not know before.

Martel stepped off the turbolift and into Emperor Palpatine's private quarters in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, with a Corellian cigarette clenched in his teeth. "Welcome, Lord Martel," Palpatine said. "It has been some time since you have last been at Imperial Center. To what may I attribute this visit to? A certain dead Sith lord perhaps?" Palpatine looked pointedly at the Corellian.

Martel returned the look to the Emperor, and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. "Yes," he replied. "Tolac Neel is what I came to talk to you about." He sat down in a repulsor chair in front of the Emperor and propped his feet up on one of Palpatine's tables.
"I'm sure," Martel continued, "that you have heard of the incident which brought about the demise of the late Tolac Neel, but I'll refresh your memory anyway. An Imperator Warbird carrying a load of experimental energon torpedoes was pulled out of hyperspace and destroyed by Neel's forces." He took a last drag on his cigarette and stubbed it out. "So, I took it into my own hands to deliver retribution." He stared off into the distance. "I'm probably scarred for the rest of my life by what I saw in his throne room."

A confused look passed briefly across Palpatine's face. "What?"

Martel turned his head toward the Emperor. "I saw some very perverted things in his palace. I would prefer not to talk about them." He closed his eyes briefly, trying, unsuccessfully to banish the horrific image from his mind. "It made my job a little easier."

"You should have told me before you went and killed him." Palpatine growled. "He was very valuable to my Empire. His sector alone brought in billions of credits each cycle. Now I'll have to set someone else up there."

Martel grinned. "Your Empire? Don't forget, you would still be a lowly senator if it wasn't for the Nerakan Empire."

Palpatine's eyes flickered momentarily with anger. "Watch carefully where you are treading, Martel. You're beginning to upset me."

Martel's grin faded. "You actually think that I care if you become upset? I would think you would be trembling at even the thought of Nelazriel's or my name. You have failed us many times. The Battle of Yavin. Endor. Letting LUKE SKYWALKER ESTABLISH A JEDI ACADEMY ON YAVIN FOUR!" He jumped up. "If you weren't such a terrific figurehead, you would have been destroyed by now, and your spirit would haunt hyperspace for all eternity."

Palpatine's face contorted with rage. "I am answerable only to Nelazriel and Hiddukel. Not to you. You have no authority over me. Nelazriel has commended me time and time again for my work for his Empire."

Martel laughed coarsely. "Nelazriel, as you should know, is a chronic, pathological liar. Haven't you ever noticed the sarcasm in his voice whenever he talks to you? He hates you. But I hate you more." His voice turned serious. "And that is what you should be concerned with. Nelazriel is confined to Neraka Prime. I am not. Do not oppose me. Serious consequences can arise from it."
Martel got back up from his chair. "Good day." he said as entered the turbolift.

To be continued.......

MOVE ON TO PART II
RETURN TO THE ARCHIVES

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