Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping... waiting... And though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have?

Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief.

It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank... Without passion, we'd be truly dead.



She watched them sleep.

So peaceful and innocent, laying on the bed in the quarters on the Greyhawk, Vessana would not tear her blood shot eyes from them. They were with her again, her son and daughters. The eldest, Sorsha - named after her dearest friend that died in the attack on the Ginalo Mansion on Ut - she was the first of the triplets to be born of the once Hapan Queen mother. Minutes later had come her second daughter, Yana, identical to Sorsha in every way.

Dakarius, her son, had been the most difficult to deliver. Even after the girls had been borne, he would not come for many hours. He had been frail from the moment he had been born, smaller than his sisters, pale and sickly. There had been numerous occasions in the time Lupercus would allow her to see them that she had been certain he would not make it through the night. Yet looking at him now, at the three of her children, she could hardly believe it was the same little boy.

His hair was light, golden, like his sisters and his mothers - though Vessana's was hidden beneath the dyes that had darken her hair. But unlike his sisters who possessed their mother's crystal blue eyes, Dakarius was definitely his father's son. With a strong, square jaw line, and ebony dark eyes that could pierce through your soul with a glance, the resemblance to Dakkon was uncanny, even at such a young age.

Two years old now, almost three, her children were Heir's to the throne of Hapes. So much had happened since the assault on Ut, the Cluster had fallen into ruin as had most of the Galaxy. War, plagues, if one did not kill you the other would. Hundreds of thousand of Happens - of her people - had died in the ensuing battles, yet nothing seemed to matter now that she was reunited with her children.

Nothing, but the loss of another man she had come to care for.

Ren Janggar's death had left a whole in her heart once again. A few weeks had passed since he had fallen at the hands of Lupercus, and still her despair had not lifted. Her girls did not seem to notice, but Dakarius did. He would not leave his mother's side when he was awake, always taking her hand in his or clutching tightly to her leg. He knew his mother was grieving.

The chime to the quarters sounded softly and, with a last look to her sleeping babes, Vessana stepped out into the narrow corridor of the freighter. " Yes, what is it Leinani?"

Leinani, the pilot in the Hapan Navy that Lupercus had imprisoned and degraded over the last year, had been the one responsible for the care of the triplets. Both woman had escaped Averam, and though they would never be close, Vessana was grateful for her company.

" You wanted to know when we were almost ready to drop out of Hyperspace, Highness." The pilot said quietly.

" I've asked you not to call me that," Vessana sighed as she made her way through the corridor to the cockpit. " I'm no longer the Queen Mother, haven't been for a long time now."

Leinani followed a few steps behind her and slid past her into the pilot's seat. " You are still my Queen, Highness, and the Queen to many others within the Cluster. When it is made known that you are still alive, as many of us had hoped..." Her voice trailed off when she saw the disapproving look on Vessana's face.

The former Queen Mother sighed yet again and sat next to the pilot in the co-pilot's chair. " There is no place for me in the Monarchy, even if I wanted the job." She reached beneath the chair and retrieved a small wooden box. " The Crowned Prince has married another, she is the Queen now and I will bow to her like any other Citizen of the Cluster."

The lid to the box swung open with a faint squeaking of the hinge as Vessana reached inside. Her fingers wrapped around a hypo spray and a vial that was filled with a misty orange liquid. Attaching the vial to the hypo spray, she pressed it against the skin on the inside of her arm and injected the specially refined form of Spice into her blood stream.

Leinani frowned, watching Vessana drop the hypo spray into the box again and slump back into the chair, but said nothing. The minutes passed in silence until the computer alerted them to the reversion back to normal space. " Reverting in 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1-" The pilot pulled back on the level, dropping the Greyhawk out of Hyperspace. " Reversion complete."

Vessana closed her eyes, pinching at the bridge of her nose. Usually the Spice helped her relax, forget the emptiness she felt despite having her children back, but it did not seem to be helping this time. Her chest heaved with another sigh and she reluctantly opened her eyes to the planet the loomed in front of them.

" Welcome home, Highness."

An ice cold fist clutched at her heart as the freighter broke through the atmosphere. " Ut..."

"You once told me that I was just like you, that I was holding the darkness inside."

"Are you read to cut loose?"

" Try me."

" Okay then. Give us a kiss..."





" We will be nearing the co-ordinates you gave me momentarily, Highness."

"Stop calling me that," Vessana growled, her mood having grown even more foul the lower the freighter had drifted to the planet's surface.

Why was she coming here? She could have gone anywhere in the Galaxy, taken her children far away from the Cluster where no one would know who they were or what they meant. Yet here she was, the Greyhawk breaking through the Ut night sky and touching down in the soft grass near the ruins of a once magnificent building.

Leinani powered down the ship, noticing the look of anger melt away from Vessana's face as the former Queen just stared at what was left of the structure. Everyone knew this place, the sight of the Ginalo Mansion where the Queen Mother and her entourage had been assassinated in a fiery explosion. The news of the apparent death of the Queen had rippled through the cluster in minutes, shattering no soul more devastatingly than that of the Crowned Prince.

Bolting from her chair as though it pained her to remain sitting, Vessana placed a hand on Leinani's shoulder as the women attempted to rise. " I need you to stay here, listen for the children in case they wake."

The pilot bowed her head respectfully. " Of course, Highness."
The boarding ramp of the freighter lowered noisily in the night, and filled with trepidation Vess stepped out into the darkness. She moved silently, pulling her jacket tightly around her to ward off the chill. Winter was coming to Ut.

Vessana entered the ivy covered, skeletal remains of the framework of the mansion. Stone and steel, hidden beneath a blanket of green, one could almost imagine that such a travesty had never taken place. The grounds were well maintained, where there was once marble flooring was now a floor of perfectly manicured grass, the ivy pruned so as not to completely hide what was once there.

She walked further inside the structure, following a stone path that had been built through the ruins, until she came to a monument that had been built where the stone foundation of the Mansion had once been. Vessana knelt next to it, her fingers brushing against the image of her own face that had been etched into the stone. Her name and a few lines of rememberance were written there and the sadness she had felt in her heart momentarily faded away into revulsion.

" What about the others that died here that day," She muttered to herself. " Where are they remembered?"

" Who's there?" A deep voice echoed through the ruins. " The Dionysus Memorial is closed to visitors for the night. You're not suppose to be here!"

Vessana turned her face away from the light that was shone in her direction and rose slowly. " I'm sorry, I did not know. I'll go."

" Now just hold it right there Missy!" The security guard snarled, drawing his weapon as she went to move. " The authorities have been called and are on their way. You'll have to wait for them."

" Mommy!" Dakarius came running along the stone path just then, wrapping his arms around her leg.

" I'm sorry Highness, he woke up a few minutes ago and came running out of the ship before-" Leinani saw the guard with his weapon trained on Vess and drew her own - a blaster taken from the cargo hold of the Greyhawk. " Just put it down!" She yelled, aiming at the guard.

The guard's gun did not waiver, but his brow wrinkled in confusion as he directed the beam of his light directly into Vessana's face. She raised an arm to shield her eyes from the sudden light, the other hand resting lightly on the soft locks of Dakarius' head. He studied her a moment before the light began to tremble. His hands shook fiercely, and both the light and weapon fell into the grass a moment before he dropped to one knee.

" Revered Ereneda!! You have returned!!"

Sorsha and Yana lay sound asleep in the quarters of his old freighter. Their state of unconsious innocence made him smile slightly as he watched over them. What made his smile widen was the fact that they were safe now, as he'd sacrificed everything for them. He'd lost everything in his final fight with the sith, Lupercus, but had gained so much more.

His ascention meant that he could watch over Vessana and the children, forever protecting them.


Slowly he moved through the cabin, the fibrous, glowing tendrils of his spirit form spiralling and swirling around his transparent self, unnoticed by the patrons outside or by the children currently in thier slumber.

He gazed through the transparisteel window, and out into the surrounding area. In the distance he could see her . . .he could see Vessana.


He smiled again.

Dakarius clung to her as he was carried from the monument and back to the ship, his eyes staring over his mother's shoulder at the guard that followed behind them. Vessana's had stroked at his hair as they climbed the boarding ramp into the Greyhawk. Leinani stopped at the bottom and turned to the guard when he attempted to follow them inside. Without a word she held her arm out, stopping the guard who lowered his head and blushed.

Leinani climbed inside and closed the hatch behind her. " I'm sorry Highness, he was gone before I could stop him."

Vessana held him to her and kissed his cheek gently. " It's all right Leinani. When he makes up his mind, nothing will stop him." She looked back at the pilot, the sounds of vehicles growing louder outside the freighter. " Secure the hatch, set the defences, and make sure no one gets within a hundred yards of this ship. We're going to have company soon, and I don't want them disturbing the children."

Leinani nodded and immediately went about her duties.

" Don't be afraid Mommy," Dakarius said softly. " The man won't let anyone hurt us."

She carried him through the corridors of the freighter. " What man, Sweety?"

" The one that watches over us." He stated matter of factly.

Crystal blue eyes stared at her son a moment, amazed at how much he had grown and how independent he was now. She wondered who he spoke of, but Vess just smiled and brushed his hair out of his face. " If it's all right with you, I'll still keep you safe too. Come, let's get you back to bed before your sisters wake up."

At the mention of bed, Dakarius yawned deeply and rested his head against her shoulder. His head was barely on the pillow and he was fast asleep.

Vessana found herself once again transfixed by the sight of her sleeping children and wrapped her arms around her. She leaned against the cool steel of the wall, tilting her head to the side to watch them. Dakarius' mention of a man watching over them concerned her, but she dismissed it as a little boys desire for a father. Something she wished with all her heart that she could have given him.
A chill filled the room, as though a breeze has risen. But inside the Greyhawk, that was impossible. She glanced around, but saw only her slumbering children.

Quietly she exited the room and made her way to the cockpit where Leinani was rising out of the pilot's chair. She turned to Vessana as she entered. " Ship is secure, Highness."

" Good," her eyes stared out the main view port in front of her, at the lights of the Ut authorities speeders. " Lower the solar panelling over these windows. I don't want any holodroids hovering around trying to get a peak inside. Powering up the engines now would wake the children and I won't disturb them. We'll leave first thing in the morning."

Leinani hesitated. " May I speak freely, Highness?"

Vessana rolled her eyes impatiently. " Just spit it out woman!"

" Why do you hide?" Leinani blurted. " I mean, why not just contact the Crowned Prince and let him know that you and the children are alive and back in Hapan space? Flitting about the galaxy, always on the run, living inside this ship - this is no life for the children."

Without realizing it Vessana stuck out. Her hand slapped the woman fiercely, drawing blood from the lower lip as it split beneath the blow. " Never dare to question how I will raise my children!" She snarled. " They are the Heirs to the Hapan throne, Leinani, do you have any idea what that means? I am nothing now! I have been replaced as Queen Mother! Were I to come forward they would be taken from me yet again and I would never see them again! Do you understand that? I will not lose them again!"

Leinani, use to the cruelty of Lupercus, did not seem at all phased by the blow, but the surprise at the fact that it came from a woman once known throughout the cluster for her gentleness was evident. " I meant no disrespect, Highness-"

" Get out of my sight," Vessana hissed venomously.
As soon as Leinani was out of the cockpit the fallen Queen mother closed and locked the hatch. Her hand slammed down on a lever on the control panel and immediately the solar panels over the transparasteel ports began to lower. Her hands were shaking violently and she reached beneath the co-pilot's seat for the wooden box beneath.

So desperate to get at what lay inside the box she accidentally tore the lid off its hinges. The ornate box was dropped onto the floor as she adjusted the dosage on the hypo spray. More than tripled what she normally injected herself with, she pressed the release on the hypo that sent the Spice surging through her veins.

Almost instantly she felt the effects of the narcotic as it sped through her system. The cockpit began to blur all around her, and she slumped to the floor. Resting her head against the padding of the seat behind her she closed her eyes to the world around her, and welcomed sweet oblivion.

Powerless, he watched his loved one fade from view and be replaced by an unknown drugged up facade. Her eye's glazed over and all glimmer of the Vessana he'd known had faded from view.

In all reality he'd known two very different Vessana's. One was the benevolant Queen who ruled her Kingdom with a care like no other, and the other was a mother, fueled by her rage but not consumed by it. However what slumped on the floor before him lay an unsightly new beast, lost in it's own self-pity and hopeless ness, forever destined to remain in a downward spiral unless it made the decision to change it's path.



"Will mommy be alright?" Came a half-whisper from the cabin's bunk, it was Dakarius.


"I don't know," Said Ren, maintaining his firm gaze at Vess. "even for me it's difficult to see her future." He Sighed.


"Can you help her?" He said with concern.

"She must help herself, if she is to break this hold the evil things have on her, she needs you, and your sisters more than ever. YOu must stand by her, without your love, she may be lost to us forever. " He narrowed his gaze and turned to the young Dakarius who was half sat up in his bunk.



"Can you do that for me?"Said Ren.


"I think so." Smiled Dakarius.


"Good, now you better go back to sleep. You're mother's going to need every ounce of energy.


Goodnight, young one. Sleep well, dream now."

The message came quickly, being relayed through channels that had long lain fallow. Channels bearing the encryption of the Royal House of Hapes. The message was simple, its origin the economic hub of the Cluster, Gallinore.



Few actually received the message, communications stations that held the encryption codes from that era having primarily been destroyed in the ravages of what was being called 'the dark times'. But despite that, there were a few, mostly older people who clung to the memory of shelter that the Consortium had provided, who had their ears to the skies, awaiting that simple message.

Among those who received the message were what could be constituted as 'Loyalists', men and women who knew full well that the only safety for worlds in the cluster lay under the banner of the Consortium. These loyalists has formed small cells on every single world of the Consortium whos goal was to moniter activities by the Consortium of Hapes and await the begining of what the cells had affectionetly called the Rebirth.

And as the Battle Dragon Hapes entered the gravity well of Gallinore, that cell had done what it was ordained to do. Let all Hapans know that their rebirth was at hand. Within an hour a meeting had been organised bringing the most loyal Loyalists together.

Unknown Location, 3 kilometres from the Ginalo Mansion.

Ten men and woman sat around the hard oaken table. Its surface was worn down, the once shiny varnish now matted and stained, blade marks scaring its surface. At the foot of the table sat a tall man, his shoulder length brown hair looking stylishly disheveled. He was a big man, broad shoulds framing a body that had been toned by a harsh upbringing and built through military service. His Service record itself was impeccable and bore the name Andrew Cahill, a.k.a Angel. Directly opposite him at the head of the table sat a much older man, his features regal and weathered. Enrico Chivaldori was the former governer of the planet and of royal Hapan lineage. His slightly portly frame reflected his position as a beaurocrat, not a warrior, but the other 7 men and women around him were more than able to make up for that short coming.

On his left from closest to furthest sat four men. James 'Scully' Sullivan spoke with a twang, his blonde curly hair and tanned skin reflecting a life lived to the full. His hands were calloused and hard, the grip strong. To his left sat Trevor Colby. He appeared to be a much younger version of Scully, speaking in the same accent and with many of the same mannerisms. Although darker haired, the bond the two shared was a strong one. To the left of Colby sat Igor and Ivan Dolovich. Their accent was much thicker and more robust than the others and the fact that basic was their second language added to the potential communications problem between them and the rest of the party. Ivan was a solid man, known across the Hapes Army for breaking every conflict kill record that ever stood. His light brown hair was partly brushed off to one side. All in all he looked extremely unremarkable. Igor, his cousin, was much slimmer, having served in the Red Army in Rodia and Danoz. Although less experianced than his famous cousin, he was still a more than competant soldier.

Opposite him lay an empty chair next to which a woman sat. Her blondy brown hair was up in a bun and her clothes were neat. She appeared groomed and proper, but all knew that she was a deadly shot. She toyed with two pistols, one in each hand, flicking them with an ease bourne of expertise. Her name was Monica Sondergard and whos nature, as well as hair style had earnt herself the name 'Buns' from all who knew her. The other woman in the room sat beside her although they could not have been more different. Where Buns was slim and lithe, the woman simply known as Meltdown was built extremely powerfully, her forarms easily a match for any of the other men in the room. She too played with twin weapons, old projectile weapons about the size of a machine pistol. Attached to each end was a large suppressor and each clip had another two attached to it. She growled slightly as a lock of her long think and dark brown hair dropped in front of her face, it being carelessly brushed away by one of the weapons silencers.

The last man at the table bore the callsign 'Reaper'. Carl Sheperd was a large man who held an equally large assault rifle on his lap. His dogtags lay revealed outside his jacket as Reaper idly scratched his small brown beard. Leaning back he sighed slightly. Reaper was another former member of the Hapes Armed Forces, having been called by his own C.O 'too dangerous even for military service'. Despite his size, he was known specifically for his stealth skills, as well as being an expert marksman and locksmith. Famous for being able to reach his target no matter where they hid, it was a little known fact that he enjoyed to spit in his enemies eyes before they died.

They sat idly chatting until footsteps were heard on the stairway behind Angel. Out of the darkness of the staircase appeared another man, his face obscured by camoflage paint and a yowie suit. In his right hand he hefted a large sniper rifle, and he appeared slightly wet as if he had been outside in the rain. In fact he had come from the roof of the building, having kept watch for any sight of persuers. Kyle 'Shadow' Symonds was something many Hapans weren't, ordinary looking. He was of average height and was all in all fairly non descript. He sat down quietly in the only empty seat, leaning the large sniper rifle against the edge of the table. He cleared his throat quickly before he spoke to the entire table.

"We are ready to begin, noone with a kilometre of note..."

All at the table were perceptable enough to note the small smirk that crossed Angels mouth as Shadow spoke. And all at the table instantly reached for their weapons as the front door was heard to open and shut quickly.

"Settle settle, its only me..."

The man appeared from the shadows of the doorway looked much like Angel, only with shorter hair. He grinned broadly, white teeth showing through. As his face was revealed the group eased considerably. Thomas Teh was easily the best among them, in all arts. Callsign 'Vilik', he was the only one able to equal Angel in all areas. Together they were a perfect team, not a weakness to be seen. He quickly made for a spare chair off to the side of the room, speaking as he did so.

"Kyle, you're getting a little slow in your old age! I had you pinged from 3 different vantage points."

The reply was joking but hurt.

"You and i both know all things being equal you'd have never spotted me..."

The group laughed, some nervously, others in actual mirth, but all quieted down quickly as Enrico cleared his throat.

"As you all know, it has begun. We know what we have to do. All resistance to the Cluster must be expunged. The Consortium is our only hope..."