Survival, Dark Times 3

[Rain]

ONE DAY LATER...


Han

"Locked and loaded and ready for lift off!" said Bria as she made her way past me onto the Falcon.

I glanced at her in near disbelief. She had two modified hold-out blasters, a DL-44 blater pistol, a blaster rifle, a variety of grenades, and even had a stun baton. And those were just the visible weapons! "When you said locked and loaded, you wern't kidding!"

She shrugged. "I always come prepared Han." She flicked a menacing smile, "You of all people should know that!"

Chewie laughed as he too made his way up the loading ramp, behind Bria. Up ahead the others were making there way down the platform. "Come on!" I called to them, "The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back!"

Uli

My eyes opened and I sat up groggily. As night had fallen the temperatures dropped, and we found ourselves putting on all the clothing we had previously shedded. Luckily the materials we brought along were stable enough to make a hut just big enough to fit all of us, and it provided good insulation.

I gently nudged Jenn who was laying across from me.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked.

She rubbed her eyes and waited a moment before replying. "Alright, a little weak but I can deal with that." She replied.

"Here." I said as I handed her an anti-biotic pill and some water.

"I take it you don't have a lot left." She said before gulping it down.

"Unfortunately no..." I replied gingerly. "Let me take a look at your wound." I said as I pulled off the bandages and the bacta patch. The cut looked okay for now. It hadn't gotten any worse. On the flip sid ehowever, it hadn't gotten any better, and with the dwindling supplies, things looked bad. I pulle dout another bacta patch and some fresh bandages and tied up the wound once more.

"What's the verdict?" She asked, although I guessed she already knew the answer.

"No change really." I answered, "But unless something happens soon, such as us stumbling across a settlement, you'll be in serious trouble. And I have to be honest, the chances of that are slim."

"Well, whats life without the risk, eh?" She joked. It was remarkable how tough she was. Something told me this woman had a purpose worth staying alive for. She seemed to determined to die. "But thanks for your honesty, it's best not to sugar-coat the issue. I appreciate it."

Winter

"Kriff!" I said as I punched my fist down on the console. Did I just swear? Woah... I had been spending too much time to Kurt. I couldn't get away with such an action at CoruSec headquarters, but luckily I was in my own provate quarters, where I had independant software set up, primarily to keep in contact with Han and the others.

Nevertheless the situation called for swearing. I had been checking up on the status of the mission, and the news wasn't good.

I couldn't establish contact at all, and the tracer bug I had installed on the navicomputer on Mona's ship had seemingly died. More to the point, the ship itself had seemingly vanished. This was not good... not good at all.

The others needed to know. I had received word that Han, Selas and a few others had gone off to rescue Olee Starstone, so I decided to hail Miss Haltzilakas' comlink frequency. I hit enter, and waited for her to answer...

[hk47fan]

Trika

"Thank the ever-living Force that Fi is not coming on this mission," I whispered to myself, making sure Selas couldn't quite hear me, though it really didn't matter if he did. He knew my opinion of Fi all too well.

Though I guess she was....okay.

Speaking of people I used to hate, I wonder when Serra's going to come back from that mission...or Caleb, for that matter. It couldn't last this long. I thought to myself.

No, no...Selas was right. Caleb and everyone else was strong. They may just be chasing Mona around Tattooine for all I know, and right now I had to focus on getting Olee back.

"Our bodies are ready, I believe," Kossk said as he walked up to Han.

"Oh dear we are all going to die!" Threepio yelled.

Marlena

"Marlena..." a voice said.

Slowly, my eyes opened...but I wasn't in our small hut on Tattooine. I was in the middle of a dark place, a place I had never been before. I was standing straight up, dressed in traditional Jedi robes, which was a rarity for me.

"What...where am I?" I wondered outloud, my voice echoing throughout the place.

"You are here, with me.." the voice said, and out of the shadows came someone who I had not seen for many years. Someone I missed dearly.

Stephen Gash, the father of my children.

"Stephen! Oh, by the Force, Stephen!" I shouted, rushing to him. "What...what is going on?"

He took me into his arms, and he didn't look like he had aged a day since I watched him pass on from that illness. After I pulled back, he stared right at me, a serious look on his face.

"Marlena, my dear, I've come to warn you," Stephen told me.

"What? Warn me?" I asked.

"You are about to lose two people that you love...in fact, you've already lost them." he replied.

"Do you mean Scout and Nait? Our children?"

Stephen shook his head. "No, Marlena...these are two different people. People that you loved, and love, dearly...be prepared to lose them."

Suddenly, I shot up. This was the second odd dream that I had since the crash...had I taken a harder hit than I thought? In one dream, I saw some man that mirrored Declan fighting countless troops, now my first husband appears to me and tells me that I have lost two people that I love.

What is happening?

Perhaps it was just my mind playing tricks on me, because I had been thinking about Scout and Nait some after what Naos told me yesterday.

Slowly I stood, and I looked outside the hut. The sun was beginning to rise.

I turned to Uli and Jenn, who were also awake. "Good morning," I told them with a yawn.

Miss Haltzilakas

I was sitting at a small desk in my new apartment. It was an apartment that Lando and Bria had graciously offered to me, just as they offered apartments who anyone who wasn't living on the two ships, which wasn't too many at the moment.

It did feel a bit odd to not be going into an office like normal. Usually I would already be at the Rotunda by now, going on about my daily duties.

I'll adjust in time.

I heard my comlink beep, and knew who it was instantly.

Winter.

We had all been waiting for a call from her sometime, with an update on everything back in the NR. No one else would be contacting me at the moment, so it had to be her.

"Winter," I said as I activated the comlink. "Miss Haltzilakas here."

Ailyn Vel

I crawled through the ventalation shaft...it was always a pain in the ass, climbing through these things, but for some missions it was necessary. And missions like this were top priority, for me anyway...and I couldn't risk letting myself be seen by just marching into this place with guns blazing.

It would've been fun, though.

I was on the planet of Onderon, at the capital building. Onderon was a quaint little place, with a bunch of rich, stuck-up people, and then a fair amount of poor, insignificant people that no one cared about. Reminded me of my own childhood, vaguely.

I came to an air duct, and looked down into the hallway, where two security guards stood chatting.

"I swear I heard someone in there," one said. "Someone's here, crawling through the shaft! We've already had one outside security team go dark and they can't find anything. Someone is here."

"We've got people checking it out," the other man said. "Probably just an assassin that we'll find and toss in jail."

"How can you say that so calmly?!"

He snorted. "Kid, this is Onderon. Things get more and more creepy around here all the time...ever since Miss H left us for the big leagues, they've just been getting worse, as if they weren't bad enough when she was here. Its almost expected to have attempted assassinations."

"Yeah, guess you have a point...after all, we did hear that the Senator hired that Fett gu-"

"Keep it down! No one wants that getting out, we aren't even sure that even happened!" the man snapped.

Ah ha. So he was here.

I took out my blaster pistol, and carefully took aim...I smirked as it locked right on to one of the guard's head, and fired. A red bolt went flying towards the ground, and hit him right between the eyes. He went down at that very second.

Bullseye.

The other one's jaw dropped, as he looked to my location. "What the-"

I fired at him in that instant, killing him as well.

The Senator's office shouldn't be far from here...once I get to him and make him squeal, I'll have what I need.

I continued on.

[Rain]

Han

"Threepio, if I had a credit for everytime you said that, then I'd be rich!" I scoffed as I pushed him up the loading ramp and closed it. I tapped the droid on the back. "And don't worry buddy, if you get blasted Chewie can always repair you again!"

I left the unsettled droid and made my way to the cockpit.

"Alright Chewie, you input the co-ordinates?" I asked. The Wookiee grunted an affirmative. I stared at the controls for a few moments. "Jabba's Palace, huh? Never thought we'd be going back there! Then again I never thought I would be forced off Coruscant by Sora Trok either!" I flicked a few switches and the engines roared, a sthe ship lifted off the ground. "Here we go!"

Uli

"Good?" Arthren snorted as she entered the hut. She had likely gotten up before everyone else, "Good ain't the word I would use!"

"What is it? I asked, immediately snapping up.

"I was just scanning the horizon with these macrobinoculars we found on the ship, and I spotted the otehr half of the ship." She replied, "We're heading in the right direction, about two more days walking should do it."

I gave her a puzzled look, and glanced round at Marlena, Jenn and Daron who had groggily sat up as we were talking. "I see... why isn't that a good thing?"

She frowned. "Looks like we aren't the only ones heading for the crash site." She told us, "A group of Tusken Raiders are also heading that direction, from about forty klicks to the east..."

Winter

"I have some news on that last mission. And I'm afraid it's not the news I wanted to tell you..." I said as I explained everything. "... and basically there is no way of finding out if they are dead or alive. For all we know Mona, with a bit of help from Xizor, could have captured them all!"

[hk47fan]

Trika

"Oh, Captain Solo, that Wookie is not the best repairman! Last time was horrendous!" Threepio yelled, taking a seat in a chair. "And, not to mention, I have just recalled a much more horrible fate than dying! Jabba could make me his slave again! That would be unbearable!"

"Blah, blah, blah...." I whispered as the droid continued to go on and on and on about how awful this would be.

I walked into the cockpit as the Falcon lifted off from Cloud City, and looked at Han. "So tell me, since you'd know best, how is Olee going to be when we bring her out of carbonite?"

Marlena

"Tusken Raiders? I'd say they could fight them off with the Force, but they say that Sand People travel in large numbers, and I doubt that Li and Sem are in the best condition," I commented, getting slightly worried. "And the Raiders may know how to get there faster."

I crossed my arms, thinking on this. Sand People were no joke on Tattooine, anyone would know that.

Then, though, something hit me.

"How do we know that Li and Sem are even at the crash site? They could've wandered off, too," I said outloud.

Miss Haltzilakas

I exhaled a breath. "Its not surprising, Mona and Xizor seem to always have some kind of trick up their sleeve," I told her, beginning to pace. "Has Sora done anything about this?"

Ailyn

I was making my way through the vents quickly, now. Once the dead guards were found, it'd be certain that I was inside the building, and the Senator would be smuggled to safety. I couldn't allow that....it was nothing personal against him, this wasn't even a job that I took, but he could not escape.

Finally, I came to the air duct above his office. I peered out, and could tell that I was on the north wall. I was behind him, and he was sitting at his desk, going through papers.

Its now or never.

I silently unscrewed the vent, trying to keep the clang of metal very minimal. He didn't seem to notice, and once it was off, I jumped to the ground, grabbing the Senator and putting my hand over his mouth while I threw the vent aside.

He looked at me in pure horror, but somehow, he didn't seem shocked.

"Surprise, Senator Hollian," I told the average-sized Twi'lek. "Tell me what I want to know, and this will be over in five minutes. Can I trust you to be quiet?"

He stared at me blankly.

"If not, you know what the other option is."

He nodded, and I took my hand off of his mouth. Before he could make a run for the door like a coward would, I took out my blaster pistol and pointed it at him. "Move a muscle and you'll be fried."

"If you're here to kill me, just do it already!" Hollian yelled, leaning onto his desk. "You're prolonging it as it is."

"You idiot, I'm not here to kill you unless you don't cooperate," I snapped.

I hate politicians.

"What? Y-You weren't hired to assassinate me?"

"No, so you can calm down. You'll only die if I don't get the info I want," I said to him, giving him a hard stare. "And I know you have it, so don't play dumb."

"What? You break into my office just because you want information?!" Hollian exclaimed in anger.

"Keep it down, damnit, and you can replace a few guards. Now, lets stop dancing around the subject: Boba Fett." I said, desiring to get on with this and not sit here with this man all night.

"Boba Fett?" Hollian asked in confusion.

"I told you not to play dumb," I warned. "I know you hired him."

"I have no idea what yo-"

"I know you hired him." I repeated, a little more firmly.

"How?" Hollian asked, starting to shake.

"A trail I've been following for a long time. Led me here, to your oh-so-wonderful planet," I replied. "And I heard a couple of your guards chatting about how they heard you hired him."

I saw the anger boil in his eyes. He clenched his fist, and I just groaned in disgust. I grabbed him by the collar, pulling him right up to my face. "Tell me where he is."

"I-I don't know," Hollian stammered. "I hired him, yes, but it was a good while back! I have no clue where he is now."

"What'd you hire him for?"

"Some other planetary leaders were causing me trouble, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. So you hired Fett to take out some annoyances about...how long ago?"

"Um...um...its been a few months..." Hollian slowly said, the fear present in his eyes. "I think he had just finished up a job with the New Republic-"

"Ha! You liar! Han Solo is-er, was, Head of Security on Coruscant. I doubt he'd let his arch-rival do anything for the NR. Stop fibbing and tell me the real story," I demanded. My tone was getting more devious by the second.

"I'm being serious! I heard that he attacked a Black Sun palace or something with the NR....so word spread that Fett was getting back into the business, and I contracted him for this job. He did it, and I have no idea where he went afterwards!" Hollian protested.

I stared into his eyes...I could see the truth in them. As wild as it was, he had some sincerity.

"You hired him to kill a few people, surely you must have kept tabs on him to make sure that he wasn't doing something that would get you found out? Surely you must have heard something? Come on, Hollian, just end this already."

Hollian let out a cry of frusteration. "Even if I did know, and I really am not sure, he'd do worse things to me than you ever would! You know who we're talking about, you know how dangerous he is!"

"If you tell me where he is, Fett won't have the time to bother dealing with a wimp like you," I assured him.

Hollian pulled out of my grip, and slowly began to make his way around the desk. I followed. "I truly have no clue...I didn't keep tabs on him or anything after he got off of Onderon! Last I heard was some murmur that a Fett had gone back to work for Jabba the Hutt, and we all know there's only one Fett, and only one that works for Jabba, but I'm not even sure about that! It was mere talk!"

He trembled in fear, and I scowled in pure anger. "You're an idiot. Its no wonder that this planet is falling even deeper into chaos. You've done virtually nothing for me, and for that, I guess we'll go with option two."

Hollian screamed and turned to run for his life, but he was too slow. I grabbed one of his lekku, sinking my nails into it, and he shrieked. I yanked him back towards me, and once he was close enough, I grabbed ahold of his neck.

Two seconds later, I heard a snap.

Hollian's body crumpled to the ground, and I headed for the window to make my escape.

I will find you, Fett....mark my words.

[Rain]

Han

"My guesses is she'll be just fine." I answered, "Probably a little dazed, but that's understandable."

"Wait..." Bria interupted, "I heard you had severe hibernation sickness when you were released from carbonite. Shivering, nausea, couldn't see a thing?"

"That's true." I replied as I glanced towards Chewie and Threepio, "But that's because I was in carbonite for much longer. Someone took their precious time to rescue me!"

Serra

I could hear the others talking as I opened my eyes, and caught most of the conversation.

"If those kids are as smart as you say they are then they would have walked towards us." Arthren said in reply to Marlena's question, "That's if they survived of course..."

"Hey!" Uli snapped, "We don't need negativity like that at a time like this!"

Arthren held up her hands. "Sorry doc! I'm a realist..."

"She's right..." I said before Uli could reply, "We may not like it but she is right. That's not to say they are dead however. They could be injured, or trapped. They could be waiting for us as we speak."

Winter

I sighed. "I haven't informed him yet." I answered, "I thought it would be best to inform you guys first."

[hk47fan]

Trika

"Our bodies worked as quickly as possible, but many obstacles came our bodies' way, as a full scale war was happening," Kossk hissed, walking in to the cockpit. "Luckily for Master Starstone's body, our bodies are coming quicker."

"Speaking of taking their sweet time..." I said, my mind wandering again. "Olee is my main focus right now, but my husband had better come back from chasing Mona soon."

Marlena

I nodded at Arthren and Serra. "You two have a point, and you are probably right. We need to get going as soon as possible, and find them before the Tusken Raiders do." I declared, looking outside again.

"Marlena's right," Alsia said, waking up herself. She stood up and yawned, stretching in the process. "We need to start right now before the severe heat of the daytime kicks in. Yesterday was hard enough."

Miss Haltzilakas

"Thank you...I appreciate it," I told her in response. I thought for a moment.....although I didn't know everyone on that mission personally, I did know some of them, and others I knew enough about. They probably wouldn't agree with Sora's new government.

"I have an idea. One that disagrees with my normal ethic code, but I think I've already done enough of that," I told Winter, my tone still reserved and calm. "I'd like to send someone after that team myself."

[Rain]

Bria

"He'll be fine." I assured Trika, "I've only spoken to him once or twice but he's a tough one. He can take care of himself. Plus just looks at all the other people on the mission: Marlena, Alsia, Naos - and the rest! Mona is no match for them!"

Serra

"WAKE UP!" Daron suddenly shouted. Looking around I could see the others angrily rising.

"Any need?" I asked.

"Hey, you heard Marlena. We need go leave as soon as possible!"

Winter

"Oh?" I said. more surprised than anything else, "Well I can give you a week at most, maybe two or three days longer." I told her, "Sora will ask about it eventually..."

[hk47fan]

Trika

I nodded. "Yeah, you're right, you're right...sorry, my mind just keeps wandering to him because he's my husband and all," I said with a deep breath. "But I really should shut up about it and focus on our task that we've got to take care of right now."

"So, in order to do that, lets get back to Olee," I decided, looking up at everyone after taking a seat. "Unlike alot of you, I've never been to Jabba's palace...and judging by the fact that he was dead, I don't think Selas has been, either. What can we expect?"

"Horrible, demeaning people of all species! The lowest you will find in the Galaxy, Mrs. Taban! Perhaps the worst place I have ever been inside in all of my years!!" Threepio exclaimed fearfully. "That Hutt was so abusive, and everyone sitting around just looked dreadful!"

"Encouraging," I muttered.

Marlena

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up..." Naos growled, slowly standing and brushing himself off. He gave a glare to Daron, while he made sure that all of his weapons were still on him. "I think I should be ready, anyway..."

"Daron pulled a Takk," Alsia commented, smirking as she leaned up against the wall of the hut. I was surprised it didn't come crashing down, considering how unstable it likely was.

"Pulled a Takk?" Allison asked, getting up as well.

"Trust me, it'd be something he'd do...he's done worse. Once he yelled at him," Alsia replied, pointing to Caleb. "And his wife while they were having a little fun."

"That was just the image I needed, Alsia, thank you for giving me a wonderful start to my day!" Naos snapped. "Trika Trok and Caleb Taban getting it on, and to make it better, Takk Tennan randomly bursting in and shouting while they act like wild apes."

Jan also woke up, and slowly got to her feet. She looked a little dazed and woozy.

"Jan, are you al-" I started.

"Oh, damn..." she suddenly whispered, covering her mouth as she darted outside.

"Whats wrong with her?" Alsia asked in shock.

Allison shuddered. "Er, lets just say that the crash and the long walk has taken a bit of a toll on Jan's stomach."

Miss Haltzilakas

"I know. It'll have to be fast, but it needs to be done before anymore time passes. We all know how dangerous Mona is, and I won't speak for them, but I think they'd rather be here than on Coruscant. I don't want them to go through all that we did, either, just to get off," I explained to Winter. "However, since they are missing, we're going to need specialists to find them."

[Revan Jast]

Selas listened to the others talk with his arms crossed, his outer robe off for once. He was clad in a darkish blue Jedi outfit, unusual for him, since black was his favored color. Regardless, it matched his raven black hair, so that was fine. Unfolding his arms, he toyed with the saber on his belt and grinned.

"Filled with the scum of the galaxy... that's no surprise. We have a habit of running into the scum of the galaxy everywhere, don't we?"

----------

Caleb scowled at Naos and Alsia. "Shut yer mouths," he said, spitting. "We're wastin time yabbering, so let's get a move on, shall we?"

Caleb had discarded his armor for now, revealing a white shirt and light grey pants on underneath. The Tattoonie sun wouldn't hurt him as much as it would the others.

[Rain]

Winter

"Like a tracker, you mean?" I asked, "Someone that could track someone down. Even for the most skilled Force user that is near impossible. The only way you could track someone across the Galaxy would be to jack into the galactic transmission networks, and that too is pretty much impossible." I explained in a dejected tone.

"Unless..." Then a brainwave hit me. "Unless you know what is it that you're looking for... Miss H, I think I have the perfect candidates. Duskbringer and Dawnbringer are with you on Cloud City, right?"

Chewbacca

"Pretty much my whole life!" Han sighed.

I glared at him and growled my disagreement.

"Of course I didn't mean you Chewie!"

[hk47fan]

Trika

"Yeah, me too...I used to randomly go around and try to protect anyone that I could from being hassled, as hard as it is to believe that I went around doing good deeds. Then I fought the Empire, then Ivy Trok, then Sora, and now I'm here about to fight Jabba. Life is never dull." I commented, thinking back to all of the crazy things that we had been through. There was alot I was forgetting, probably.

"Now, about the palace...if you two," I started, gesturing to Han and Threepio. "are going in the front door, then where are we supposed to enter?"

"If I remember right, Mrs. Taban, there is a secret entrance to the palace that goes into the dungeon. It is close to where they keep most of the prisoners, and not heavily guarded...it is also quite a bit away from the Throne Room." Threepio replied.

Miss Haltzilakas

I thought for a moment. "The cyborgs that used to work for the Empire? I think they're here. I saw them during the escape and after we landed," I answered, pondering the idea that Winter had just thrown out. It seemed pretty solid.

"They would have alot more skill in this area than us, and most of us are tied up with other duties. I know they have skill...they were able to kill the entire Imperial Council during the battle of Coruscant. I think they'd work, and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't accept the job. I believe Dawnbringer is Selas and Caleb Taban's brother, after all." I continued.

"I'll find them and present the offer to them immediately."

Allison

Alsia laughed. "Fine, fine, he's right...lets head out."

It wasn't long until we all were out in the desert again, with supplies in tow. We took down the hut as quickly as we could, so we could use the same resources tonight to rebuild it, just in a different location...good thing it wasn't the most sturdy structure, it made it easy enough to take apart.

I walked over to Jan as we all trekked through the sand. She had joined up with us, after finishing morning sickness, once we came outside.

Getting sick every morning is one big reason why I am never going to get pregnant.

"When are you going to tell him?" I asked her.

"Keep your voice down," Jan hissed. "And I...I don't know. I still am not sure if I'm going to. In between getting sick, walking through the desert, and Naos trying to ignore me, I'm having contradicting thoughts. I know I want to, but...I just don't know. Like I said, its complicated."

I sighed, shrugging.

[Rain]

Han

"Throne room?" Bria scoffed, "Seriously?"

I laughed. "That ain't what I would call it either, sister! But Goldenrod's right. The only thing bigger than Jabba himself is his ego!"

Winter

I nodded, even though Miss H couldn't see me. "What about the rescue of Olee? Han informed me that he and Selas had left a while ago."

[hk47fan]

Miss Haltzilakas

"They left a short time ago, with Bria Calrissian, Trika Trok Taban, Chewbacca, and C-3PO. Hopefully, it won't be a long trip to Tattooine...they have a plan in place, but I'm not sure of the details," I answered. "I trust both of them to get the job, done, though."

"Also, there was one thing that I wanted to know: Has Solon done anything major since taking over?" I inquired. Not out of curiosity, but concern that he had already done something that would de-stabilize the NR even more.

[Rain]

Winter

"So far he hasn't made any decisions." I answered, "Apart from 'cleaning up' the place a little. He issued the arrests of some smugglers think, but apparently they escaped, so news of that never got out." Then I remembered Ardol Vent, "Speaking of news, he has been speaking to Ardol Vent. Gave him some nasty material. He bashed all of you, but mainly Han. It made me so made as I watched Vent's news broadcast. There's no doubt in my mind, Solon is scum!"

[hk47fan]

Miss Haltzilakas

I sighed. Han deserved better than that, but we didn't always get what we deserved. "He always was difficult to deal with. This really isn't a surprise to me...but thanks for the information. I really appreciate it. I'm going to go find Dawnbringer and Duskbringer, and see if they will help. We'll speak again later." I said.

I cut off the communications, and headed out of my apartment, shaking my head at Solon's actions.

It didn't add up to me. Sora wanted to fix the NR, but he put Solon in charge? Solon was far from an upstanding citizen. There had to be some hidden logic that we were missing.

I walked throughout Cloud City, noticing the looks of shock that people gave me as I walk along. I simply smiled kindly...I knew that alot of them were shocked at having the former Chief-of-State of the New Republic walking the halls so casually.

Eventually, I came to the platform that the Killer was on. That was where alot of people were staying at the moment.

I walked up the ramp, and lightly knocked on a wall right inside the ship, announcing my arrival.

A small Ewok came up to me. "Ew, another big butt," he said in disgust.

"Are Dawnbringer and Duskbringer here?" I asked politely, ignoring his comments.

"Yes, inside Main Hold. Come in, I need to get back to cockpit." he said, motioning for me to follow.

I walked into the Main Hold, and smiled at some of the people inside. "Surprise, surprise," I said softly.

"Oh, Miss Haltzilakas, good to see you," Lynn said, smiling. "We were just listening to a news report."

I looked at Dawn and Dusk. I recognized everyone well enough by now.

"He can't do that, its not right!" Dusk exclaimed angrily. "I watched that man die."

"Whats going on?" I asked, approaching her.

Dusk stood, sighing. "Solon has ordered that the Takk Tennan Memorial be demolished. He says that the New Republic honors actual heroes, not 'men who get killed while on very simple missions'. Its disgusting...you were there after he died, you know what happened. Hell, you had the memorial built. And he's also going to demolish the Mon Mothma Memorial right next to Takk's...he says that although she created the Rebel Alliance and did some good, she should have been more prepared for the risks, and if it wasn't for Sora helping create the NR, it would have gone downhill much faster. He also commented that the NR's troubles began under her reign."

I lowered my head, appalled, but not surprised. I quickly looked back up at Dusk. "Its a typical move of him...he probably thinks Takk Tennan was an idiot, and he probably wants to wipe the public's memories of his predecessors, including me, as quickly as possible." I explained to her.

Dusk sighed. "So, why are you here?"

"Actually, I came here to speak with you, and Dawnbringer," I said, motioning to the larger cyborg. "I have an important job for you two, if you're up to it."

She looked to Dawn with a raised eyebrow.