553. Black Phoenix - Trychon

Trychon felt a loss of control of the trance he had been trying to hold, but he couldn't help himself. "Haley?"

All he was rewarded with was a whimper of pain. He hoped that it wasn't due to his lapse in concentration, but he attempted to regain some control anyway. "Do you know where you are?"

The cyborg groaned again weakly. "The ground."

The Sith couldn't help but smile slightly at that. It was uncharacteristic for a reply from her. "Very good. Do you remember anything about how you got here?"

He could feel her gaining a bit of strength by the second. Her response showed it as well. "My body is adjusting to cybernetic shock." She rolled to one side as she propped herself up on an elbow and reached with her free arm to rub her own back. "It's a difficult situation, but it's not likely to cause further problems, and it will abate quickly... though not completely until I can get back to base and make some repairs."

Just when Trychon thought she was nearly out of the woods as she suggested, she curled up in pain as though for the first time and fell to the ground again with a shriek. He resisted the urge to reach out to her with his hand and instead increased his attempts to help through the Force. "Cybernetic Shock? Are you forgetting about the blaster wound? You may want to be careful with that arm."

She groaned. It took her a minute to gain the ability to respond again. "No. My systems adjusted to that burn within seconds of receiving it. It's very discomforting, but that is all." She began to regain composure and prop herself off the ground again.

The young Sith hoped he was helping her. "So this shock... you've dealt with it before? You're experienced with it?"

"No. It's always been a risk I knew about, but I've never..." She trailed off as her face tightened in pain.

It became obvious to Trychon that his use of the Force was indeed helping her. His wavering attention span was obviously directly affecting her. He was simultaneously proud and ashamed as he realized that it would have been better for her if she was recovering on her own. He redoubled his efforts and promised himself to try harder not to lose control again.

Within a minute, Haley was doing much better again. It was likely a combination of both her own recovery and his efforts, but he kept the meditation up. "Tell me more. I need to concentrate to help your recovery."

"Well, I was two..." Haley went on to describe the years of changes she went through. They weren't forced on her, but allowing such decisions on a child seemed more than odd to Trychon. He was strangely calmed by listening to her talk, and her demeanor got stroner as time went on. She was recovering, and to the point where he felt comfortable backing off on his efforts to help her. As he did, her discomfort became obvious, but she seemed as though she was through the worst. She was doing well, and she seemed as though she was letting loose on some issues for the first time. She gained confidence in her speach as she went, but she seemed so much more vulnerable than ever before.

The Sith finally let go of his last bit of meditation. Haley let out a bit of a sigh and closed her eyes, but she seemed prepared to handle it.

"I can't imagine that this is where you saw yourself ending up all those years ago." Trychon finally broke his silence.

She paused. "No. I couldn't have imagined the obstacles that stood in my way. As a woman, as a cyborg, many won't accept me as I am." Her speach was becoming more hesitant again, though she was clearly in much less pain than before. She saw the look of concern in her companion's eyes. "I'll... I'll be ok." She spent several minutes attempting to regain her control.

"It's hard. I'm not used to thinking about these things. I'm in no state..." She sniffled and rubbed her nose. "I'm not used to dealing with this. Before, it was as though you weren't just helping my pain, but giving me strength."

"The pain will go away with time. You're doing very well." He assured her.

"It's not just the pain. I'm not used to... my emotions coming out like this." She sniffled again.

Trychon was surprised by the implication he thought he sensed. "The implants control your emotions?" He tried to keep his inquiry fairly level.

"No." She shook her head and wiped her eyes, in a failed attempt to regain her composure. "They help me control them. They keep me level and objective about things. This is overwhelming!" She was near full tears now. "I..."

At a loss for anything else to say, Trychon did his best to calm her. "Shhh.... it's ok. You'll be ok."

"I need to rest." Haley turned and laid her head on his lap. "Tell me about yourself now."

He didn't like opening up to strangers much, but he felt no restraint in opening up to her. It felt good, if he was honest with himself about it. He started off by telling her about his home planet, though he left off how confusing a start he got, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

She was asleep within minutes, but he continued to talk to her for much longer. Knowing she couldn't really listen any more, he started to tell her things he hadn't discussed in ages. He told her about his first love. He didn't know why he did, but he hadn't even really talked to his brother much about it beyond vague mentions. It was surprizing how relaxed he was with her sleeping on his legs.

Then the Force began to warn him that their time in safety in the cave was running out.

552. Black Phoenix - Raezyr

The faint scraping of metal against leather, and faint movement across the room were the only warnings Raezyr had. He ducked and rolled as the blue ring of light from a stun blaster flashed across the room, passing through the spot he had just been standing.

The Sith couldn't see anyone in the room, but his Force senses told him there were three others in the room. He made a quick mental note to berate himself later for not noticing them before they attacked him.

Raezyr snapped on his lightsabers and dove toward the nearest mind he could sense. The lights in the room were off, but there should have been enough ambient light to see his target, and all of his Sith senses told him someone was in front of him, yet he could see nothing.

Closing his eyes and using the Dark Side as his tool, he let it guide his motions. His lightsabers suddenly sliced through an object and the smell of burning flesh filled the room. He heard the thump of a body hitting the floor just as it flickered and materialized.

Realization settled on the Sith warrior as he saw the stealth generator belt crackling where the blade of his laser sword had nicked it. Luckily for Raezyr, those belts only dampened sound and obscured all but sudden movements and when he had entered the room, the assassin had apparently drawn his weapon too quickly.

The other two attackers had apparently abandoned their attempt to stun him, and had switched to "kill." The blaster bolts flashed toward him. Blocking them deftly, he leaped toward the nearest attacker.

Fighting unseen opponents was new to Raezyr. He had heard of stealth generators and even seen a few, but had never actually encountered them in battle. He could see know why they were feared and if it weren't for his Force abilities, he'd probably have been shot down by now.

As it was, he felt he had already gained the upper hand. One assassin was down, and now he had moved around the second attacker in such a way that the third assailant could not get a clean show without hitting his own man.

Raezyr swept his long blade toward the area he assumed his attacker's head to be, and was rewarded with the sizzling sound of flesh burning and the sight of disembodied head flying across the room. The rest of the body crumpled to the floor... or so it sounded to the Sith.

He didn't stop to admire his handiwork however, there was still one more assailant with which to deal. He could sense the third attacker moving toward the door, and as it opened, he leaped forward to stop them, even though something was warning him against it. Still, he couldn't let them get away... not without knowing their identity.

Suddenly he saw the thing that his senses had tried to warn him about. A small grenade materialized out of thin air as the third assassin dropped in on the floor. Raezyr skidded, coming to an abrupt halt as he attempted to reverse course while looking for some sort of cover at the same time. In the back of his mind he heard the door to his quarters close and felt the attacker leaving the area.

Not knowing what else to do, the Sith reached out through the Force, grabbed the entire bed and flipped it over on top of the grenade. He didn't know how much good that would do, but it had to be better than nothing. Diving, he sailed through the air towards the open entrance to the refresher.

In the enclosed room, the concussion from the explosion was just that much worse. Raezyr channeled all of his Force energy into shielding himself from the blast. Even with that cushion, he was slammed into the wall harder than he could imagine.

His ears rang, and his head swam and the darkness of unconsciousness threatened to creep in, yet somehow the Sith warrior managed to activate his wrist communicator, and issue orders to lock down the base.

551. Black Phoenix - Raezyr

Having just finished communicating with his brother, Raezyr stood up from his meditative trance. He looked to his armor laying on the bunk, but decided not to take the time to put it back on. Instead, he threw on a pair of black fatigues and grabbed only his gauntlet and helm, throwing his robe around him. He was just going down to the control room. It wasn't as if he were going into battle, still he hitched his black belt over his garments and around his waist, ensuring his two lightsabers were still attached. Battle or not, he needed to keep up appearances.

He exited his quarters and strode down the hall toward the control room, cloak billowing behind him as much as the belt would allow. The few people he encountered stepped aside to let him pass in the not-very-wide corridor, but he paid them no attention. His thoughts were on one thing, and that was the fact that his brother was out there somewhere in the Jundland Wastes in a cave, in a sandstorm.

He burst into the control room. The human female controller on duty had been leaned back in her chair, feet on the console and nearly asleep when he arrived. She let her feet hit the floor with a thud and stood up. "Wh-what can I do for you, sir?" she stammered, recognizing him instantly although he was sure he'd never seen her before.

"Where is Captain Falka?" the Sith said, his hands clasped behind his back. He was studying the maps on the wall intently, looking for something.

"I'm sure I don't know, m'Lord," the woman said.

Raezyr spun around to face her and she involuntarily took a step back. "Well why don't you find out," he said. He was a bit miffed at her now. You shouldn't have to suggest something like that to a subordinate. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered just how long she'd last in this outfit before he continued. "And when you find Falka, tell him to meet me in the War Room. Immediately." He didn't know if he needed to add that last part, but he figured it was better safe than sorry.

He strode from the control room and into the adjacent War Room. Before the door closed he could hear the controller scurrying about, and hoped that maybe he put the fear of the Sith into her.

Raezyr took the seat at the head of the long conference table in the center of the room and turned to the computer console. He began punching up terrain charts, maps and weather reports. It wasn't long before Falka arrived.

"What can I do for you, Lord Raezyr?" Falka asked, walking over and standing next to the Sith so he could see what was on the screen.

"Lord Trychon and your cyborg slicer... Hayley...?"

"Stargazer?"

"Whatever... are holed up in a cave in Mos Castoff Canyon. They are in the midst of a sandstorm and are unable to get back to their swoop. I need you to send a shuttle out and pick them up immediately," Raezyr informed the Black Phoenix leader.

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you know this? We've been monitoring any and all communications and air traffic in that direction and haven't seen any sign of them," Falka asked.

"The Sith have ways of finding things out. Secret ways, Captain," he said, looking up at the olive skinned alien. He had thought about explaining it to him, but decided that it was probably better if his Force abilities remained a secret, at least for the time being.

"Now, according to these charts, there are several caves in that canyon, here, here and here," Raezyr said pointing to the charts. "Once the shuttle gets close, it should just be a matter of picking up on their comm frequency and homing in. Now get that shuttle in the air quickly, before the sand storm hits us here too and we can't send anyone up."

Raezyr shut down the computer console and stood up. "I'm going back to my quarters. Notify me when the shuttle has returned."

"As you wish, my Lord," Falka said and nodded slightly. He pulled his comm from his belt as he walked toward the door. "Tocar, get your two best pilots and that MD-3 medical droid and meet me in the hang-" The closing of the door as Falka exited prevented Raezyr from hearing any more of the transmission.

He waited a minute and headed for the door himself. He kept thinking he should be going himself, but at the same time, it was a routine pickup, and wasn't a commander supposed to delegate the mundane tasks to his underlings? Logic told him that was true, but he still couldn't help feel like it was his job.

Raezyr's thoughts were focused squarely on his older brother, and the predicament that Trychon was in, and he was still debating on his responsibility in the situation when he arrived back at his quarters. His thoughts were elsewhere, and it nearly got him killed.

550. Sith Hunt - Raezyr

Captain Wash Moklam, commander of the Republic Hammerhead Unity, sat at the head of the table in his War Room and looked around at each of his officers, making sure that he had eye contact with every single one of them to ensure they knew his words were for each of them. His gaze swept past that of the two Jedi sitting at the other end of the table for more than one reason. First, the Jedi with the eyewraps always made him uneasy, and two, he knew they wanted those damn Sith as bad as he did, and as of yet, he had seen nothing in their actions to indicate they weren't trying their best. The rest of his staff however...

Finally, Moklam stood up and placed his closed fists on the table, leaning forward and putting his weight on them. "Are we a bunch of clowns?" he asked. His staff looked around confusedly at each other, not sure whether they were supposed to answer or not.

"I said, 'Are we a bunch of clowns?' Dammit!!" he yelled, slamming his right fist down. The metal table sounded with a boom.

"No, sir, we're not," offered one of his senior staff.

"Then why in the name of the Galaxy do we look like clowns?" Moklam yelled as he started walking around the table and behind each person at the table, so they had to twist in their chairs or crane their necks to follow him. "You people are letting one damn light freighter elude us. One small vessel that clearly wants us to find them or they wouldn't be broadcasting themselves to every planetary authority from Tatooine to the Inner Core!" He yelled.

"These fugitives... these hell-spawned mass murderers know we're coming every single time. I want to know how!" Moklam demanded.

"Sir, maybe they're just getting lucky," offered one of the lower ranking officers in the room.

"Lucky? Every damn time we come out of hyperspace, they are running full throttle in the opposite direction from us. Every damn time!" The last sentence stressed on each word. "Once? Luck. Twice? Pretty damn lucky. Ten times? No Ensign, it's not luck." He assured the younger man.

"No, according to the reports... the reports you people are giving me, we come out of hyperspace and start scanning. By the time we locate and identify their ship, they're heading the opposite direction. That in and of itself isn't a dead giveaway," Mokalm informed them.

"Here's the thing: When we come out of hyperspace, the sensors immediately pick up any blips out there, but it takes time for the computer to identify those blips. The same thing happens to their sensors when we jump in. They know we're coming out of hyperspace, but it should take them some time to identify us, except the Rancor takes no time whatsoever. It instantly knows who we are and according to the sensor logs, they are running before they could have possibly identified us.

"Like I said, once or twice? Okay they're lucky, but this isn't luck. This is something they know for a fact. Some bit of intelligence they are counting on. Something they are using so we can see them just long enough to make a positive identification on them.

"So, armed with that knowledge, what does that tell you?" Moklam asked, and sat down in his chair again.

For a moment, no one spoke. Finally, Jedi Nal Talla spoke up. "Cahptain, if I may ahnswer your question."

Moklam nodded for her to go ahead.

"Dis infahmation tells us dat dey either 'ave some bit of technology which allows dem to identify us more quickly dan we cahn identify dem, or more likely, dey 'ave someone on board working for dem," she stated. "It also begs da question: Why do dey want us to know where dey are?"

"Personally, Jedi Talla, I don't care why, as long as we can catch them and stop them," Moklam said. "I also don't like the insinuation that one of my crew is a spy."

Before Talla could reply, the chief Communications officer spoke up, "Sir, what if it's not a spy, but something else?"

"What do you mean, Lieutenant?"

"Well sir, ever since we left dry dock after making repairs, we've been experiencing a strange phenomena every time we come out of hyperspace," the woman explained.

"What kind of 'phenomena' are you talking about?" Moklam said suspiciously.

"Sir, to be frank, it's some sort of short transmission burst. We aren't sending anything out, and when we try to access the communication, it seems like nothing but static. We've put in repair orders several times with the Maintenance section, but but every time they tell us nothing is wrong," the woman said.

"And that's where you left it?" Moklam asked.

"Well as it stands, it was put on the list to check when we hit our next scheduled dry dock as it appeared not to have any adverse effects."

"I want every available tech working on that. Jayk, get your people on it too," Moklam said to the head of the Information Technologies section. "And get that civillian contractor to work on it.

"Sir, do you mean Geoff Spickolly?" Lieutentant Jayk asked.

"Do we have any other civillian slicers aboard this ship I don't know about?" Moklam asked.

Jayk shook his head no.

"He's got to be the most annoying person I've ever met, but he's the best at what he does. That's why he's here," Moklam commented.

The Captain stood up and rested his hands on the table. "We won't be moving a single parsec until we know exactly what is being transmitted. That takes top priority. Dismissed," Moklam said, and noise of shuffling flimsiplast and data pads mixed with scuffling feet filled the room as the officers left the room.

The two Jedi waited until everyon had left the room.

"I'm positive that transmission is how they are doing it," the Miralukan Jedi Caecilius said after the room was empty.

"I am positive as well. Da only question is, how do we use dis knowledge to our advantage?" Talla asked. Both fell silent, looking for the answer.

549. Sith Hunt - Raezyr

For weeks, the Unity jumped from system to system around the Galaxy, chasing every hint and lead regarding the Wasted Rancor and her Sith crew, but each and every time they arrived only to learn their quarry had long since departed. On occasion, they arrived when the Sith were still there, but only close enough to positively identify the light freighter and then watch it jump to light speed.

And the times that happened, they got the distinct feeling that the Sith somehow knew they were coming, because each time they were heading directly away from the coordinates where the Unity emerged from hyperspace.

Only once in that time had they ever come close to catching the Sith. Word had arrived from the planet Arkania in the Perave System that the Rancor had just arrived in the system, and were requesting permission to land. Their files had told notified them that the ship was wanted and to contact the Republic Hammerhead-class Star Cruiser Unity directly.

Captain Wash Moklam had given instructions to the Arkanian Security Forces grant the ship permission to land, and to try to detain the crew as long as possible, without any direct interference. Captain Moklam informed them the wanted persons aboard the ship were dangerous criminals and considered enemies of the Galactic Republic and that his forces would deal with them as soon as he arrived.

Apparently someone in command on Arkania though he could handle it, and would curry some favor with the Republic, and just go ahead and capture the Sith themselves. Moklam would have told them what they were up against if he had remotely thought it necessary.

Needless to say, the body count and collateral damage the Sith had caused was extremely great, although they did succeed in delaying the Rancor slightly.

As the Unity approached the exit vector of it's hyperspace corridor, Jedi Knights Nal Talla and Caecilius settled into their respective fighters, and prepared themselves for immediate launch.

"Da Arkanians really messed dis one up," Nal remarked to her Miraluka companion.

"They sure did," Caecilius replied. He removed his eye coverings and put on his flight helmet, lowering the blast shield. Humans and other beings were often uneasy seeing an eyeless Miraluka, and the race of near-humans had long ago learned to cover the place where visual organs are normally found when around humans as a courtesy. "I just hope we can still intercept the Sith before they can get clear and make the jump to hyperspace."

"You and me both," Nal returned. "May da Force be wit you." And with that, she secured the canopy of her fighter, Firaxa 1, which locked with a hiss.

She started her engines and ran her pre-flight checks and watched the timer on her control panel count down. When it hit zero, the big star cruiser would exit hyperspace, and she and her companion would be cleared for launch. With a bit of luck, they'd have a shot at bringing her friends murderers to justice this time.

She adjusted the enviro controls in the cockpit, making it more humid. She was beginning to get nervous, and when she did, her Nautolan skin tended to dry out.

Suddenly the triple beep on her control panel went off, and as she looked through the cockpit windows, and out of the giant hangar bay opening and watched the mottled blue of hyperspace switch to elongated star-lines, which coalesced into pin points of light.

Launch Control had just started to speak, about to give the two Jedi permission to launch, but they didn't wait for the controller to finish, or even acknowledge her, but jammed the throttles all the way forward, punching their way through hangar bay force field and into the vacuum of space.

They were banking as one unit toward the white ball of ice that was Arkania, and looking at their scopes, trying to find their target, hoping they hadn't been able to escape the planets surface when Captain Moklam's voice crackled through their comm speakers. "Jedi, this is Unity 1. It appears the Arkanian's blew it. Somehow the ground targets made it through the defenses and to their ship undetected, and then annihilated a large cargo freighter, which had been converted into a passenger ship on it's way out." Moklam paused for a moment. "That converted cargo ship was fully laden with passengers. Those scum bags just killed hundreds of people to make their escape.

"They are exiting the Arkanian atmo right now, the ship should be showing up on your scopes in just a second," Moklam went silent, and the tension in his voice was so thick you could cut it. Nal didn't need Force powers to tell he was distraught at the thought of all those civilians needlessly murdered.

Nal and Cae acknowledged the transmission, and coaxed every bit of speed they could out of their fighters. They had spotted the Rancor almost as soon as they had launched.

"They're too far away, Nal," Caecilius said across the comm. "We'll never reach them before they hit hyperspace, and we're too far for any kind of torpedo lock."

Nal didn't answer, she was thinking. There had to be something she could do. She had felt a slight disturbance as the occupants of their quarry had reached out with the dark side of the Force to sense her presence, and she knew that they knew the Jedi were following. In desperation, she let the Force guide her fingers and she flipped through comm frequencies, stopping on one at a nudging from the Force.

She keyed up her comm. "Wasted Rancor, dis is Firaxa 1 of da Republic Bahttle Cruiser Unity. You are here by ordered to surrender in da name of da Galactic Republic," Nal blurted, not knowing what else to say.

"Firaxa 1, are you still mad that I shoved a dagger in your little friends chest?" came the reply, almost instantly.

The reply brought instant images of the night her Twi'lekki friend Nylan had confronted and been murdered by this female Sith and her Dark Side companions. Sorrow and anger threatened to pour over her, but she pushed it back. "I am sad for da loss of life you have caused, as any normal being should be, and dat is why I came to bring you in, before you can do more harm," Nal managed to say, hoping she was showing no emotion.

"Ooooh. Yeah," the female Sith said mockingly. "Then you're a teency bit late for all those folks on Arkania. Look honey, you really should go back to whatever water world you came from before you get a knife through your ribs too." The criminal giggled evilly.

Nal couldn't help it. All those poor people, murdered, and this girl thought it was fun and games apparently. "As I recall, it was you who fled da fight last time," she said, still trying to keep her anger in check. She knew it wasn't very Jedi of her, and pushed it back again using Jedi calming techniques. She felt peace wash over her.

The comm crackled to life again, and this time there was no mistaking the menace in her voice. "Alright, but just think about this: Last time, we left your little wannabe Jedi friend dead, you without a leg, and we've only gotten more powerful since then, so yeah, bring it on, fish bitch."

Nal didn't know what to say, and it didn't matter anyway. As soon as the transmission cut off, the ship flickered in pseudo-motion and disappeared into hyperspace.

548. Black Phoenix - Trychon

Trychon was quite unsure what to do. Haley was laying on the floor in front of him unconscious, with her body twitching. He knew she was probably in no danger immediately... but falling into shock could be a very bad thing, and he wasn't sure what sort of medical resources the Phoenixes had. It was for situations like this that he wished of all the things the Jedi were and the Sith weren't... he wished he had some sort of healing capability.

He looked around, as though he thought maybe they had brought along some medical supplies and he'd merely not noticed until then. He looked back at Haley, realizing how ridiculous that thought was, like looking for one more ale in an empty cabinet after you'd checked it three times already.

Her face was clenching and unclenching in continual pain, and the intensity seemed to be increasing. Not sure if that was a good sign or not, as she was perhaps coming closer to consciousness again, he decided to act as though anything he couldn't tell was positive was likely negative.

Still completely lost for what to do, he closed his eyes and concentrated on taking his own pain away. He tried to stretch out the reach of his technique to surround the quickly maddening aura around Haley. He fought to silence the thoughts in his head about not knowing if this technique did more than cope with pain, or if he was able to affect others either way.

This went on for several minutes, and Trychon could feel the beads of perspiration slowly rolling down his cheeks. He was not uncomfortable in the heat, but he was very unsure of how quickly time passed when he meditated. He knew that the time couldn't be allowed to get away from him.

Then he began to feel Haley's senses wander from mere pain to confusion, and a bit of disorientation. He opened his eyes, while trying to maintain what he could of his meditative state. He saw that Haleys eyes were open, if only to small slits. At the corners of her eyes, there were small pools of moisture forming.

547. Black Phoenix - Trychon

Trychon and Haley sat near their burning fire for a while in near silence. As the somewhat distant howling of the growing wind got louder, Trychon grabbed some of the wood from the spare pile on the other side of the room and pulled it into the fire without moving from his seat. That garnered a look from Haley that Trychon was already becoming accustomed to. She was hard to read, a steady calm aura in the force that seldom if ever wavered. His best guess for the emotions behind the look was a mixture of curiosity and indifference, if that was possible. He figured for Haley, it probably was.

Haley returned to a distant stare at the fire, watching Trychon's recent additions catch and spread the blaze. Tychon was satisfied with the strength of the fire and the amount of heat, but he quickly bored with observing it. He stood up and walked over to a corner where the light was flickering shadows, earning himself another look from Haley.

As Haley began to ignore him again, he sat with his legs crossed, trying to be grateful for an opportunity to simply meditate on the future, an activity that he thought he didn't use enough. It was too easy to spend meditation time on specific lessons or other more current issues.

He closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to spread out from within. It was necessary to let go of his present thoughts and concerns before he could allow the echoes of future in the Force into his mind, as they were ever changing and even more elusive.

His thoughts were quick to jump to Haley, the strongest pull in the area. He tried not to be irritated, as he was trying to get his mind off of the present, Haley included. He allowed his thoughts to flow outward into the cave more once again. The cave itself had an interesting feel to it in the Force. A strong shadow, neither light or dark, was throughout the cave, probably a result of the previous inhabitant. There was also a lingering dark feeling, or many of them. After some lingering on these smaller sensations, Trychon felt rather sure that it was left behind by failed attempts to hunt the creature.

Trychon's consciousness smiled at that briefly before he tried to send it out circling around himself. It seemed to go in that direction for him before he found himself looking at Haley again. Seeing her face directly, Trychon tried once again to avoid becoming frustrated, attempting to move his thoughts outward, but he continued to focus in on his companion's expression.

Then, he saw overlapping visions of her calm exterior and her head waivering back and forth in pain.

Trychon rose from his seated position and half-jogged over to where Haley was seated. He turned himself around her body to see her sitting perfectly still, with her eyelids firmly shut. His irritation was about to boil over the internal barrier he'd built for it when suddenly her Force presence shifted. Her ever taut mind began to feel distracted by something foreign.

Haley's brow began to furrow as she started to struggle with an unseen internal issue. Trychon was nearly in awe as he watched her nearly completely lose her composure as she felt true pain for the first time in years. Her internal batteries had failed and her flexdispersal stim unit stopped functioning.

Trychon picked her body up and carried it away to a flat section of the rock floor, setting her down and watching as she began to convulse as her body set into shock.