Bravo, Will! One eensy-weensy thing though . . . Darth Caelum doesn't have control over the whole galaxy . . . yet. And there are no more stormtroopers.

!#%&##%!!*&!!@!!!!!

Oops. Okay, I'm not being chased by anybody, then. (Slams head against nearest metal object) Jack just stole the hoverbike from...somewhere. Thanks!

~Nyja~

"Mooooom, I need help with my homework!"

Chesa's voice from her little aft bedroom is just the thing to distract me from my brooding. Trey is in the galley fixing dinner, though his head-tresses were drooping considerably when last I saw him. He's still space-lagged from that last run, Vandor in the Core to Shili to check up on some old friends- usually it's not this bad, but Vandor and Shili seem to be on opposite day/night cycles right now, and Shili is in the middle of its dry season, which didn't help matters for my aquatic husband at all! We left Chesa on the ship for most of that visit, she was exhausted and it's the two of us they wanted to see. Jandau, ever the romantic, is still tickled pink - well, more like burgundy, seeing as his skin's red anyway - that we ended up getting married.

Aashro wasn't quite so jubilant. She's been brooding quite as much as I. We both have the same connection in the Jedi Order, back in the Jedi Order after denying she belonged there for some twenty-odd years, and the news we've been getting occasionally from her is not all that good. Things have been rough for the Skywalkers since Alex disappeared, and there are rumors flying that Jaina Solo has gone missing too. "Stars' end," I distinctly remember Sarqui saying, "what is this galaxy coming to when the Jedi of all beings can have their young kidnapped?" Personally I don't think it's all that likely that Alex or Jaina were captured by anyone, but Sarqui is incurably paranoid and also an officer of the Shilian local police, so we let him think what he likes.

"Mom, are you helping Dad with dinner or what? I don't understand this Anselmian history thing at all!"

Force, did I get caught up in my brooding again?! "Coming, love! Sorry about that!" I call back to Chesa before getting up from the copilot's seat and making my way aft. We homeschool her; Trey was the one who came up with this Anselmian history assignment, not me. I don't really get all that ancient-Nautolan-priest-kings stuff myself, but it's the least I can do to try.

~Trey~

Nyja has that look in her eyes when she jogs past on the way to Chesa's quarters, the one that lets me know she's been thinking about the situation with the Jedi again. Concern for Ahsoka's friends is one thing, but sitting in the cockpit for an hour stewing about it is another thing entirely! It's not entirely like her, either; she must really put more stock in Sarqui's conspiracy theories than she lets on. Not that she'd ever admit this out loud, of course. I tried to get her to last night and got a generous dose of her acerbic wit for my trouble.

Just thinking about last night makes me want to sleep for another ten standard hours. Stars, I'm tired. But the fact remains that I need to get my circadian rhythm back in sync with the ship's. We're running a load of medical supplies to Dia- a very long haul, but somehow Saali convinced me to take the job. I don't know how she does it. Convinces people, I mean. It just sort of happens: one minute you're talking with her about hyperspace physics or whatever, the next minute you're agreeing to lug a bunch of scanners and intensive-care droids to some backwater in the Mid Rim! She's a wizard, that one!

The reheater dings, indicating that our meal of Corellian buckwheat patties with Anselmian ironi seaweed and Nyja's favorite Rylothean sauce is hot. "Dinner's ready, Chesa, so wrap it up!" I shout in the general direction of my wife and daughter, then set the little table in the lounge with plastoid plates and cups for three. Nyja yells back, "Chesa wants muja juice, just water for me, thanks!"

Chesa is much chattier than either of her parents at dinner. We listen to her go on about homework and a talk she had with her Bothan friend Zissi over holocomm earlier, offering the occasional grunt or nod of affirmation. She doesn't seem to notice; she's a little peaky, as are both of us. Getting her ready for bed is a largely silent affair. She is the lucky one here. Reversion at Dia is only half an hour away- she will be asleep the whole time we're on planet, but sadly, Nyja and I will not.

~Nyja again~

I am awoken from my catnap by the incessant beeping of the reversion alarm. Trey is already alert (really, how does that man do it?!) and waiting for my go-ahead to pull the lever. Groggily I give it, and the hypnotic blue swirls of hyperspace resolve into star-lines, and then to stars. Dia looms ahead, its surface a chiaroscuro pattern of clouds, water, and purplish-brown dust. 

The holocomm beeps; it's the Dian space travel authority. I patch the call through-

-and am immediately bombarded with a hail of klaxons and a droid's voice: "Warning, unidentified  freighter! Sensors indicate collision course with compromised heavy interceptor! Take evasive action immediately! I repeat, sensors indicate collision course, take evasive action immediately!"

"What the Sithspit?!" Trey curses, grappling with the controls. Cold fear floods down my spine as I realize the droid was not wrong: there's a burning ship headed straight for us, caught in Dia's gravity well. However, my husband is nothing if not a born pilot, so he has the situation under control in a matter of seconds. "Arthree! Revert to manual control, all available power to rear and side thrusters!" he yells at the astromech, who beeps an affirmative. Grabbing the steering yoke with one hand and the throttle with the other, he banks hard to port, away from the other ship and its trail of thick gray smoke.

This run just got a whole lot more interesting.

************

So, in case you couldn't tell, the Markhos family has ended up at Dia as well, and nearly collided with...somebody's...ship that's crashing. I am not entirely clear on whose ship this is- I thought it was Kara and Sasha, but Sasha said they landed safely so I guess not. Jandau, Aashro, Sarqui, and Saali are all my OCs and all Togruta. They're friends with the Markhos since all six of them worked with Ahsoka in the years before the Alliance was founded...yes, this is a VERY long story, not worth telling here.

You're welcome Will. I AM the GM so I have to watch out for this type of thing.

Has anybody seen the new Star Wars trailer yet?It is really cool. Anyway

Kara- I am lying in a bed in the hopsital thinking about what to do next. Now that I am by myself I can go back to the jedi and pick unuseful tidbits of information for Master Caelum or i can go back face his rage and get another mission or ( I get rid of the thought imedietly) I could just leave him and do my own thing. Just then a medical robot enters the room and says in it's robotic voice " you need about a week of rest. You may stay here and recover if you like. You are recovering fast. That is very good. " It leaves and i sit up and get out of bed. I am still wearing my jedi outfit and will blend in very well. I grab my lightsaber and clip it to my belt, glad to have an excuse to leave my room. When i get outside, I see that it must be market day or somehing because the streets are full of people stopping at stalls, talking , and riding on strange animals and buying things. I wander through the streets, looking at everything. Finally i reach the end of the town. For miles around there is nothing but wet marshland. Here and there there are birds landing or taking off, but they are the only living things i can see. I turn and go back to the main street. I contenue thinking about what to do next. I decide that whatever I do i am going to need a companion. I serch the shops until i see one that is selling droids. I walk up and look at them. There is a beat up traslator droid a few pit droids( the little ones that build ships and such) and two astromiches. I look at both of them then ask the person who is selling them, A boy a few years older then me how much the blue one is. He looks up from tinkering andnames a price. It really low for a droid. I ask some quistions and find out that the boy had foud the droid wandering in the marsh. He was in suprisingly good condidtion just a little muddy. I hand the boy some money. I still have enough to buy a passage on a ship and a room for two days plus food.The boy shoves the droid in my derection and says "It's name is R2-C2 " I nodd and walk down the street my new droid, R2-C2 following close behind. 

*Sasha's ship didn't crash. It was just being jammed or somthing. We ( Sasha and Kara), landed safely and smothly in the ship docking place( I can't think of the name) maybe that smoking ship can be someone elses. 

I walk into the ship's cargo hold. "Hello?" Flipping on the lights in my visor, I look around. A canister of fuel's been knocked over. Something's rattling about back there. "Ah, probably a mynock or something." Then I look closer at the motion. I laugh. "Is that Fett's kid?!" She's holding a blaster. "You know what? My original plan was get the money and cheat Caelum out of his Jedi, but now I'll have more fun with it. I'll give you to Caelum, see how he reacts." Raising my rifle, I shoot the blaster out of her hand. Keeping the weapon armed in case she has a backup, I attack, firing my suit's net gun.

Azea ~Somehow I manage to avoid the net, march up to him and punch him in the jaw. "You little . . ." He mumbles, managing to grab my arms before I punch him again. "I suppose it's also 'Like father, like daughter'." He says as he ties me up. "You won't get away with this." I hiss. He starts to drag me off to his cargo hold.

Jaina ~So according to this info I'm heading to the same destination. I sigh, than look around for the ships map. "I don't think so." A voice says. I whip around. Arxan smiles. "You lied to me!" I yell, angry. "Well you are going to see some family, just not the family you want to see."

POST PEOPLE!!!!!!

I grin, keeping up the evil vibe for a couple more seconds, then break out laughing. "Did you seriously think I would give someone to a Sith?! I detest Sith! They're like freaking HUMAN VERMIN! No, I'm going to steal his stuff, give him Fett's kid, then return you to your family. If you don't believe me, feel free to attack. I am a Xexto of my word."

Jaina ~"How can I trust you? "I ask quizzically. "Well . . . the thing is . . . well I dunno." He says, kind of awkwardly. I sigh, grab my lightsaber and ignite it. "Okay, where is the nearest escape pod?" I ask. "Come ooonnn . . ." He groans. "Where is it?" I demand. "Can't you please trust me?" He asks desperately. I close my eyes and let the force guide me. "Something tells me I should trust you." I say gently. He grins.

Azea ~ I can't be in THIS predicament. I groan softly. How am I going to get out of this one? Or worst of all what if I can't? Father would be so displeased. He would launch into another of those If I Had a Son talks. Mother would immediately start yelling at him . . . I sigh. Maybe I'm NOT for to be a bounty hunter like him.

The cargo is very small, and Sasha drives a fighter. It's a fighter.

Sasha~

"Oh, crud," I curse, as the first missile sails past me. "Com-Som, send a message to Headquarters that I'm under attack, please..."

"On it," she replies, "and I've activated the shield."

"You are an amazing computer. Thank you." I turn the ship sharply around. As I thought: Darth Caelus. Not many people know about him, but Alexa didn't just disappear... and we've been on his trail, we top-notch Jedi (and trusty assistants).

The next bullet fires, but I beat them to it: a firework of collision explodes, but I'm already shooting the next two to hit the wings of the ship. Then I steer my fighter back around, and jump into hyperspace for the morons to figure it out: this cargo is something the Sith will want, and something they are not getting.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!TOP!!!