Subject: [OTL]: (alt. Betsy/Star Wars) Fanged Butterfly 2: Knightcross 39/? (R) From: Phil Hartman Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:09:54 +0000 will1@earthling.net Fanged Butterfly Vol. 2: Knightcross Chapter 39 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Marvel's are Marvel's. LFL's are LFL's. Any original characters are mine. The rest belong to their owners/creators. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. WARNING: Themes, imagery, violence. ------------------------------------------------------- 40 ABY: Kashyyyk, Mid Rim Territories, Galactic East: 26 Days after the Battle of Corellia: ------------------------------------------------------- Chewbacca was no newly weaned cub; he was among the oldest, wisest Wookies on his species' homeworld, and widely traveled enough to know a trap of almost any variety when he saw one. he warned his nephew, the Jedi Knight Lowbacca, and Lowie listened; Chewbacca wasn't Force sensitive, but only a fool ignored advice from a senior hunter, and they had expected some kind of double cross from the Confederacy delegation sent to convince the Rock Council, the Wookie mediating body, to join the war against the Galactic Alliance. The Wookies stopped in a bunch of leaves, watching as Trandoshans - lizardlike slavers and longtime enemies of the Wookies - tried to sneak up on the guards to the Rock Council entrance. Well, TRIED. A thrown bronze lightsaber, vicious rykk blades and several laser bowcaster bolts, and the Trandoshans were done. But the contempt of the assassination effort was obvious, and Chewie snarled in outrage, nodding at his fellow Wookies. The Confederacy not only were a threat to peace; they held the Wookies in disdain. The Rock Council would've torn the Trandoshans limb from limb ... and now the Confederacy had made a LETHAL error. Chewie told Lowie, before telling the guards to alert the planetary defenses. It all came back to the Hutts getting involved in the war, Chewie thought with disgust. Well, they were about to remember why angering Wookies was such a suicidal maneuver ... ------------------------------------------------------- Aquaris, Expansion Region, Galactic East: ------------------------------------------------------- Betsy was beginning to think that navicomputer was possessed. Possibly by a lightside Force spirit, the way they were landing on planets with old allies of the Rebellion. Aquaris, or Iskalon as the locals called it, was a temperate ocean world, but had no land masses above the water. And, the ocean dwelling locals had banned all air breathers from landing after the Imperials and the Nagai ... Except that the Angel's Wing was low on fuel, and they could use heavy water to refuel the fusion generator. Assuming the Iskalonians weren't upset with airbreathers emergency landing, of course; Aquaris had stayed out of larger galactic affairs since the end of the Galactic Civil War, and the Vong had left the world alone, probably due to the global ocean. "Think they'll listen to us?" Ben asked; he'd kept his swimbrief on once they knew where they were headed and how much fuel they'd need, since he could handle making sure the intake valves were open (fuel pipes were usually attached manually, since refueling was normally done on dry land). "I'm not sending you out there until we're sure it's safe with the Iskalonians. I sent out a telepathic call, so they should know we're here," Betsy said, noting the rebreather in Ben's hand as he sat in the copilot's chair. He'd gotten taller, and kept a decent amount of muscle from his Shaping, although not the intense degree he'd had as a half Vong. The start of actual abdominal muscles was visible as a fourpack at his solar plexus, and he'd lost that gangly stage. He was keeping his buzzcut, also. The entire effect was ... almost young adult. Ben Skywalker, Betsy realized, was growing up physically as well as mentally. He smiled faintly at her and said, "Thanks. I think I noticed shuura fuzz this morning when I was cleaning up ..." "You'll compete with Chewie for fur soon," Betsy gently teased, and Ben blushed a little, but also laughed; he was at ease with her and more comfortable with his body, both of which were signs of progress in his recovery after his Shaping and its reversal. A telepathic reply stirred them, and Plif hopped onto Ben's shoulder, while Dani walked over from the dejarik game she had been losing to Artoo. ~Definitely someone trying to reach us,~ the hoojib sent, and Dani nodded. A knocking at the auxiliary hatch made everyone tense, until Betsy sent, ~Hello?~ ~Hello. I am Kiro, of the Chuhkyvi. We don't usually get offworld visitors, but we are less ... zealous in our protection of Aquaris than we were. How may we of the School help you?~ a kind, older male voice asked, and Dani's eyes filled with hopeful tears. ~My name is Betsy Braddock, a Jedi ... and there are several people aboard my ship who'd like to meet with you, if possible. We also ask permission to use some of your seawater to refuel,~ Betsy sent, smiling at Dani as Ben grinned and Plif radiated joy. ~As long as you do not introduce foreign organisms to Iskalon, we have no issue with you. And I have a rebreather helmet with me ... I'll board now if that's all right,~ Kiro sent, intrigued, and Betsy opened the auxiliary airlock. "After introductions, get those fuel valves open, and we'll get going," Betsy told Ben, before smiling at Dani and adding, "Once you've had a chance to talk, of course." "Betsy ... Ben, thank you both," Dani said, smiling as she poured anticipation into the astral plane ... and then the hatch finished cycling, and the inner seal opened, letting a golden skinned man with blond hair, wearing a helmet, green swimbrief and belt, holding a lightsaber, step inside, dripping. He nodded respectfully at Betsy, then looked at Dani, and slowly began to smile, amazement filling his Force aura as the Zeltron woman took his hands in hers and smiled back. "I apologize for the surprise, but our paths crossed rather by accident ... or perhaps the Force. Dani, you know, and Plif, and Artoo and Threepio; and this is Ben Skywalker, Luke's son," Betsy introduced, and Kiro smiled kindly at Ben before looking deeply into Dani's eyes. "If these are the kinds of surprises Luke's order spring, Knight Braddock, I would ask many more. May we ...?" Kiro asked, and Betsy smiled as she let Kiro and Dani slip into the master bedroom. Ben blushed, then headed for the airlock and said, "I'll just go check those valves ..." Betsy gave him an admonishing look and replied, "Aren't you assuming a little quickly?" Ben looked at her with such a typically teenaged male expression of annoyance that Betsy almost laughed. "I'm 14, and I'm not blind. Two people separated for almost 40 years who still get that lost in each other aren't gonna just talk, Aunt Betsy," he said, before blushing, but Betsy smiled before he could apologize. "I'm glad your biting wit is back, at least a little," she encouraged, but Ben looked so apologetic that she added, "Ben, it's all right. I know you were just being teenaged. It's not a bad thing, in small doses." "Maybe ... I just ... I don't want to be a jerk, and -" Ben said, his voice breaking as he sighed, and Betsy crossed the cabin to hug him. ~You can be a little spirited. It's allowed,~ Betsy sent, and Ben wiped his eyes as he managed a weak smile. /Thanks. I just ... need more time. I'm still figuring out how ... I KNOW everyone cares, and I don't wanna take my feelings out on them, and sometimes I feel like I can joke again ... but sometimes, I worry I'll say something cruel,/ Ben sent, as Betsy ruffled his hair. ~If you were nice all the time, we'd worry. You're entitled to having a foul mood. Not EVERY venting session is going to lead to the dark side, remember?~ Betsy sent, bringing a grateful smile to Ben's lips. /Thanks. I'll go get those valves open; care if I stay outside for a while, get some sun?/ Ben asked, and Betsy grinned her assent as he headed for the airlock. "Just don't get burned," Betsy warned, and Ben held up a tube of sunscreen before he entered the airlock. ~Smart boy. He's still in such pain, more from fearing himself than what he endured,~ Plif worried from where he was sitting on Artoo's dome. ~It takes time. But we're here for him, and I think he's making progress. Thank you for what you've been doing, talking with him,~ Betsy sent, and the hoojib nodded. ~Most hoojibs live quiet lives, but we all have our times of crisis, and trials are not so different between our species. Such suffering as Ben has endured is thankfully rare ... but what help I can give, I will. Certainly, to Luke's son,~ Plif promised, and Betsy sat down to wait for the pumping system to activate. She vaguely wondered how everyone else was doing, and hoped the rest of the Order wasn't struggling with sabotaged hyperdrives and undeserved angst ... ---------------------------------------------------- Dani hadn't dared to hope that she might ever see Kiro again, and to sit beside him, after all this time ... They sat on the bed, just drinking each other in with sight and empathy, until Kiro said, "I ... abandoned you. I'm so sorry ..." "You were trying to free Aquaris from the Nagai. I understand. Artoo showed me holos of your efforts ... I threw myself into the fight on Zeltros, too," Dani said; how could she be angry with Kiro? He was ALIVE. Such a gift didn't deserve angry words. But Dani could sense Kiro wanted to explain, and he smiled sadly as he said, "I always wanted to find you again, but I used the rebuilding efforts here as an excuse to stay on Aquaris. And ... I let the airbreathing get in the way. I felt we could never have happiness, and I wasted so many years ..." "But we're here now, Kiro," Dani said, taking his hands in hers. "We knew the difficulties back then, and we can face them now. Unless ..." Kiro shook his head and replied to her unspoken question. "I never found anyone else. There were caring women, but none like you. You were my true love, Dani. And if ... if there's any chance ... the School has enough leaders of the next generation to care for themselves, now," he said, and Dani teared up in joy. The rest really spoke for itself ... even if that kriffing helmet was still annoying. But love overlooked such details. ---------------------------------------------------- Ben finished opening the valve hatches, then Force signaled Aunt Betsy to turn on the pumps, and he kept an eye on the flow to make sure things were going OK before he surfaced. #LOT of water ... but I kind of like it here. Sun feels good,# Ben thought, removing his rebreather from his mouth before climbing onto the Wing's nose and slathering himself with sunscreen. He stretched out, glad of the chance just to soak up the rays and the Force; glad that he could be NORMAL, for a while. The metal was a little warm against his back, but not badly, and Ben looked down at himself, smiling a little. He had gotten more muscular, and taller. The swimbrief was just the right fit, too; Ben didn't have so many hangups about his body as he had, before. He was still glad his hair had grown back in ... where it needed to be, and he didn't miss that stupid groin pouch. And he was glad to need a swimsuit again, even if he felt shorts were too baggy, now. #Funny, what seems so silly after you've been Shaped, then get turned back,# Ben realized, smiling again. The memories still hurt, but Ben knew he could talk to people who understood, who'd forgive him if he needed to yell. He just didn't always feel ... safe - Then he felt a dark side ripple, and stood, trying to keep his footing between the angled nose and his own slipperiness with the sunscreen he'd put on. Something red and black leapt from the water, landing atop the Angel's Wing with black, orange and yellow eyes, a thin neck, and a red lightsaber. Ben ignited his own silver blade, still processing that the Sith had followed them through THREE random hyperspace jumps ... and that this Sith was KAMINOAN!? "You look well, young Skywalker. Such freedom of the body is commendable ... but my Master could show you true freedom," the ... Sith taunted, but Ben ignored the male Kaminoan and Force leapt to the ship's roof and shielded himself. "Your Master is a jerk. And I'm not gonna join the dark side. Who are you supposed to be, anyhow? Darth Fishhook?" Ben taunted, meeting the Sith's blade with his own. The Kaminoan snarled, spitting, "I am Darth Aiwha! I am your EXECUTIONER for such insults!" "Not happening," Ben said, trusting in the Force as he clashed with the Sith ... and it felt right. Like he was training with Aunt Betsy back on Bastion, the light side guiding him ... Ben was still smart enough to call for help, though. He'd only beaten Krayt back on Vulpter through surprise and using his anger; and anger was NOT a smart play. Ben was tired of letting his emotions drag him around all the time. He'd never stop feeling or caring ... but he wanted to be Jedi. Jedi used their brains AND their hearts. And they never fought alone if they could help it. The top hatch opened. Ben smiled as purple and blue lightsabers popped out of it, wielded by purple and blond Knights ... The living Force rippled, and Ben gave himself to it, synching with Aunt Betsy, and Kiro, and they closed in. ---------------------------------------------------- Ben had done well to hold the Kaminoan this long, Betsy thought, but she was even more glad the boy had called for help; this one was powerful. Even if it WAS another stupidly named Darth. Really ... Darth AIWHA? Krayt needed a thesaurus. The Kaminoan's skills were nothing to disdain; the Sith was holding two adult Knights and a filled-out Padawan at bay, and he wasn't tiring quickly enough. "You may be at home in the sea, Sith, but this is MY birthworld. And you have violated it long enough!" Kiro shouted, concentrating ... Something with a large beak, too many tentacles and a voracious hunger grabbed Aiwha, and Betsy and Ben shared a wince as the shrieking Sith disappeared under the waves. "Apologies, Master, but I felt the Kaminoan's power, and thought it wiser to bring the battle to a close quickly," Kiro said, as he and the humans boarded the Wing. "No worries, Kiro. The tanks are full, and if you want to come with us, we have some room yet," Betsy said, checking the systems before she focused ... There. She closed the fuel valve hatches through the Force, and told Ben, "I didn't want to send you back out there with that sea creature." "Thanks. I'll clean up - thanks, Kiro," Ben said, and the Iskalonian shook Ben's hand before the boy headed for the refresher, passing Dani with a polite nod. "So skilled for one so young ... Luke's family remain full of surprises," Kiro said, sitting down with Dani and letting Betsy concentrate on the takeoff. "I'm glad Ben didn't let cockiness overwhelm his sense. He was offered Knighthood early after he warned the Order of attempts to destroy the Coruscant and Ossus Temples, but he declined it; he's letting himself grow more before he rushes into anything," Betsy said, and Kiro nodded. "Hard won wisdom, though," Dani said sympathetically, shaking her head, and Betsy agreed with the Zeltron. #But the fact he's using that wisdom bodes well,# Betsy thought, a little pride in her reflection as she smiled at Kiro and Dani looking longingly at each other. Now, if only their next stop had a SURFACE, with a reliable shipyard ... Betsy checked the navicomputer as the Wing jumped, and she went pale. #Bloody HELL ... Nar Shaddaa ...# -------------------------------------------------- Nar Shaddaa, Nal Hutta System, Hutt Space, Outer Rim Territories, Galactic South: -------------------------------------------------- It was NOT a good day to be a Confederacy member. Saxan Koyan, the Corellian ambassador to the Confederacy HQ, shook his head as Rautha the Hutt, the presumed Supreme Commander of the joint Confederacy fleet, finished a dire report on losses in the weeks since Jacen Solo had vanished ... which, while a morale win for the rank and file, had also unified many of the worlds on the fence in favor of the Galactic Alliance. Worse, Rautha, while surprisingly considerate of his fellow Command Council members, was no Turr Phenirr, especially in the tactics department. Commenor had stung the fleet badly, costing large amounts of badly needed ships and more troops than could be spared, due to the Hutts' overconfidence. The GA might have suffered a body blow when Hapes went nova, but the trickle of committing worlds aligning to head off the Confederacy meant trouble. And most of the others were dealing with regional conflicts; the Verpine/Kem Stor Ai mess was undercutting supplies, and had stirred the Mandos ... AND there were rumors of actual Sith, and some sort of odd Vong activity, in the distant Outer Rim, AND the Jedi were back in the GA's good graces. StealthXs had taken a heavy toll on Confederacy forces at Commenor. About the only good news was that the Imperial Remnant was staying out of the ongoing fiasco. #Probably waiting with the Chiss to scoop up northern and far eastern worlds. This isn't going to be as simple as we sold our citizens on, and the blockade's wearing on their will to go on ... and they're right to ask why we're committing Corellian blood and arms to helping Hutts. Even ones like Rautha, who's halfway friendly,# Koyan thought ... {We have reports that SOMEONE hired Trandoshans to try and kill the Wookie Rock Councilors, to discourage Kashyyyk from joining the war effort for the GA. *I* counciled SOMEONE not to do that, but ...} Rautha sighed, rolling his eyes as the Commenorian, Adumari, and Bespin delegates chuckled sympathetically. The SOMEONE was Gardulla, but her fury at that Jedi Braddock embarrassing her, and her exceedingly high rank among Hutts for keeping Nal Hutta relevant after the Desilijic Hutt family was wiped out, made her a force to be dealt with among the Confederacy. Koyan sympathized with passionate ideals, but not if they led to stupid decisions ... That was when a purple and a green lightsaber ignited at the entrance to the room, and Koyan's worst nightmare came true. Luke and Mara Skywalker stepped over the unconscious bodies of the guards, glared at the gathered Confederate ambassadors, and practically dared someone to commit suicide. "I think we can do this like adults, can't we? If you'll all just surrender, we can assure you safe passage to a Galactic Alliance holding facility while we negotiate an end to the war," Luke said, far too reasonably. "Or I can take my frustrations about the past few months out on all of you, and this can be pointlessly nasty. Gardulla's really the one I want, so - GHAK!?" Mara yelled ... and a couple of ODD aliens appeared; a short, squat one with four tentacles, pink skin, and large eyes in its body touched Mara, making her body seemingly go boneless. The other one, with a yellow body, apparent breasts and a featureless face, crossed its arms, tossing energy rings which trapped Luke, squeezing him and making him drop. {HA! Threaten the Confederacy, will you, Jedi?! I think NOT! I, Gardulla the Hutt, have hired bounty hunters to capture your brat and that accursed Braddock, and you will serve as bait! All your deaths will be both slow and pleasurable! HOHOHOHOHO!!} Gardulla boomed over a comlink, and Koyan gasped as the Skywalkers were stunned. Whoever these aliens were, they'd taken down TWO of the Jedi Order's most dangerous members ... and Koyan wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing. The aliens carted off the Skywalkers, leaving a surprised Rautha to clear his throat and continue, {Yes ... er, the Bothans asked to be excused. Apparently, they claim to have found evidence that Jacen Solo survived the Hapes attack, and are pursuing him.} THAT was troubling, also; the possibility that Solo was still out there ... and that the Bothans would leave the major war effort to kill him ... Koyan gasped inwardly, too much the professional politician to betray his concerns. The only reason the Bothans would go after Solo while the rest of the war was going on had to mean it had something to do with their ark'rai vengeance oath against the Vong. If Solo was reaching out to the VONG ... No, Koyan worried, maybe taking on the Jedi was unwise. They might actually be needed. -------------------------------------------------- Lair of Gardulla the Hutt, Nar Shaddaa: -------------------------------------------------- Something had happened to Luke; Leia couldn't sense him through the Force, although he was still alive. "Try to raise them again," Leia asked Han, as they waited in disguise - a Kuati noblewoman and her unlikely Tusken Raider bodyguard - waited to see Gardulla in the Hutt's foul smelling antechamber. "Signal's scrambled," Han replied - and the hatch opened, to reveal two of the oddest looking nonhumans Leia had encountered. The woman ... floated less than a meter off the ground, wearing a red, white, orange and yellow costume, her green hair floating behind her, while a furry, four-armed male with swords and orange armor lunged, shouting something in oddly accented Basic. Leia took the swordsman, but her lightsaber shut down - cortosis - and the familiar dampening effect of a ysalamir filled her Force awareness - stun bolt. And Han drooled, collapsing when the floating woman held her hands around his head, as Hutt laughter filled Leia's fading awareness ... --------------------------------------------------- Docks Section of Historic Refugee Sector, Nar Shaddaa: --------------------------------------------------- Kyp was the first one to sense the trap. But even a Jedi who'd seen exploding suns, Vong torture dens and Anzati lovers was taken aback by what looked like a grossly deformed humanoid infant floating in a repulsor chair at the end of the dock. "What in the Force ... ?!" Ganner snapped - "Grblx!" the ... infant ... babbled ... and *Betsy* - not wearing very much, smiling coyly - appeared ... holding a lightwhip ... and Kyp, Ganner and Raynar all blacked out under a huge psi-blast; K'urod was seemingly unaffected, and leapt forward with his lightsaber blazing. Until he was touched by a blue skinned woman with a tail, *shrank* to a few inches tall, and was caged. -------------------------------------------------- Chewie saw, but didn't quite believe the sight; FOUR Jedi, taken down so easily ...!? He raced from the shuttle, until a short green-skinned alien, about as tall as a Noghri but more ... Rybet like ... tackled the Wookie and yelled something in a thick accent. Chewie ROARED - and then green slime stunned him into unconsciousness, as a green-skinned creature with membranes on its back SWALLOWED him, cocooning him. -------------------------------------------------- And from where she watched, keeping track of the bait gathering, Gatecrasher grinned. "Superb, my Technet. Now, hurry; we have reports of Braddock's ship entering the system. It will take all our efforts to secure her," the blue-skinned powerhouse said into her comlink as she turned to the chuffing Gardulla. {Excellently done, Gatecrasher! I'll double the bounty, no, TRIPLE it! The Skywalkers, Solos AND the mighty Chewbacca, that fool Durron, the legendary Ganner Rhysode, Raynar Thul - ALL *MINE*! And with Braddock and the Skywalker heir, my revenge AND my control over the Hutts AND the Confederacy will be unstoppable! THE GALAXY WILL BE *MINE!* HOHOHOHOHOHOHO !!!} Gardulla cackled, bringing a grin to the ... monkey thing beside her. "OoOoOoOoOo. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" the smaller creature cackled, making even Gatecrasher - who was used to the whining of that barely useful pest Yap - wince. {Yes, Salacious. I'm glad you escaped Jabba's barge all those years ago. Eh? Excuse me, Gatecrasher - WHAT!? I'm having an evil moment here, Bab!} Gardulla snapped, as the Hutt's simpering manservant came in, bowing. {A million pardons, Your Celluliteness, but we have word, the Angel's Wing has entered the system ... and so has the Furrily Exquisite Death!} the Twi'lek gulped, and the rest of Gardulla's court gasped. "Meaning ...?" Gatecrasher growled, as Yap squeaked and held onto her neck for dear life. {Meaning, Gatecrasher, that your competitor has returned. You'd better get Braddock; the bonuses are yours, I keep my word ...} Gardulla warned. {But Tarfang is back. And he will be in a MOOD.} #How fortunate that *I* have a teleporter,# Gatecrasher thought, bowing to Gardulla and summoning the rest of the Technet by comlink. NO furry little hunter was going to keep HER from a fortune. Not even with HIS reputation. ---------------------------------------------------- Approach to Nar Shaddaa, Nal Hutta System, Hutt Space: ---------------------------------------------------- Betsy had been prepared for trouble when the Wing reverted to realspace ... just not practically every bounty hunter ship in the galaxy waiting for her kind of trouble. "Bloody HELL! Hang on, we're going in hot!" Betsy warned, as Ben - now dressed in a combat bodyglove, not bothering with the robes but keeping his combat belt - slapped the shields up, and near space filled with a latticework of energy blasts. "Can we jump - AAHH! MOM - DAD!? And Aunt Leia - they're down there, in trouble! And others !?" Ben cried, while Dani, Kiro, Plif and the droids hung on, and the Force rippled. "A trap. And I suspect Gatecrasher's Technet are responsible; the others are extremely skilled, but crossdimensional hunters aren't usual Jedi foes. This is my fault," Betsy lamented, taking the Wing in as Ben radiated understanding. "You didn't put the bounty on us! This is Gardulla's fault," Ben said, fighting down a surge of anger, and Betsy smiled at him for his understanding ... That was when a massive ion burst fried the systems, and to Betsy's horror, Neal ... SCREAMED. Her faithful astromech burst into flames, twoodling down, as Artoo doused his fellow R-series droid with firefighting foam, and Betsy bit back a sob. "Neal ... Aunt Betsy, I'm sorry," Ben sniffed, and she could only nod, touched by the tears in her nephew's eyes ... The Wing broke through Nar Shaddaa's smoggy atmosphere, revealing a miniature city world like Coruscant, but sleazier, and the Lambda class shuttle touched down shakily on a landing pad. "The main drive was overloaded, I'm afraid, Mistress Elizabeth," Threepio said, and then blaster fire hammered the ship - Betsy looked at Ben and the others, and decided. "Gardulla wants me. The rest of you, make a break for it - NO arguments, Ben, I won't let that bloated perverted schutta get her hands on you! Hutts are, by and large, sicker than you ever want to imagine," Betsy ordered, and Ben reluctantly nodded. Betsy cycled the hatch ... and they charged, Dani with a pair of heavy blasters, Kiro with his lightsaber, both of them dressed in combat bodygloves, Ben deflecting blaster bolts while Plif rode Artoo, and Threepio followed ... There were dozens of bounty hunters on the narrow walkway between the landing pad and escape; Nar Shaddaa's towering spacescrapers rose behind them, and Betsy rushed the hunters. Then the proton grenade came out of the crowd, and the Force flooded with warning - Ben shielded ... but was thrown from the landing pad, into the depths of Nar Shaddaa. Betsy turned - something was blocking her Force senses AND her telepathy - as stunfire knocked out Kiro, Dani and Plif, and ion charges shut down Artoo and Threepio - and Tarfang walked out of the crowd, grinning as he blew out a smoking proton bazooka. Betsy's scream was ... wordless; something primal, utterly UNLADYLIKE, and probably darkest of the dark side. IF ysalamiri on nutrient frames weren't visible in the crowd, and Tarfang hadn't shot Betsy with that Merr Sonn hand cannon as she rushed him, her lightsaber high. Ben was gone. And she had failed him, Luke, and the others ... She sobbed as the darkness took her. ---------------------------------------------------- She awoke to a rough shove; and the smell of ... Hutt. Gardulla laughed wickedly, as Betsy realized she was back in a dancer's outfit, collared and chained to the Hutt's dais - "YOU *KILLED* BEN! YOU MOTHERLESS HEAP OF -" Betsy screamed, until a taser charge shocked her senseless for a moment. She met Mara's grief-stricken gaze; the Hand was chained to the wall by wrist shackles like Luke, Han, Leia, K'urod, Ganner, Raynar AND Kyp ... And Betsy could only sob, ignoring the ... pity Gatecrasher gave her when she glanced her way. Ysalamiri lined the walls; Kiro was trapped in some large glass orb, and Dani was chained to it, also in a dancer's outfit and looking ill. Chewie snarled defiance from a cage over a pit of some kind of carnivores, while Artoo and Threepio worked the crowd with drink trays, fitted with restraining bolts. Worst of all, Tarfang was sitting among a crowd of female Twi'leks, cooing with satisfaction and counting stacks of credits. {The Technet got good bonuses, but the Ewok got the maalraas' share. And you get to suffer, the boy's death on YOUR hands ... as my new dancers entertain us!} Gardulla cackled. Leia groaned, as CAL OMAS and DUR GEJJEN, glassy-eyed and wearing gold bikinis, began to writhe before Gardulla. Something was blocking Betsy's telepathy ... and she couldn't meet Luke and Mara's eyes. Worst of all, *Salacious Crumb* sat beside Betsy and cackled. She tried not to sob, tried to deny Gardulla the satisfaction ... but it was hard. And the dark side laughed. ---------------------------------------------------- He awoke; the Force had returned just in time to cushion him ... He had to have hope; he might be a kid, but he was a Jedi, trained by the Galactic Alliance Guard AND Betsy Braddock. Ben Skywalker stood and vowed, shoving back the dark: "OK, schuttas - you've taken your best shot. "Now it's MY turn." ---------------------------------------------------- TBC ... >)