<font color=CC3333>The flash of light that suddenly illuminated the overwhelming darkness brought her unpleasantly from her unconsciousness. Wincing at the pain the light brought to her eyes she pushed herself off the cool, smooth surface she lay on and stood unsteadily on her feet. She stumbled back against a wall, and rested there a moment until her eyes adjusted to the sudden onslaught of light.

She swallowed, trying to moisten the dryness of her mouth and throat, trying to get a feel for her surroundings. The room she occupied was small and empty, hardly any space for her to move about it. A chill encompassed her flesh and she rubbed her hands over her bare arms and shoulders. She couldn't remember what happened, how she had come to be in this place.

Her heart began to race beneath her breast.

The silver and black gown she wore swished softly as she moved around the room, examining the walls for any sign of a door. But the bright white light against the painfully white walls would make any seam from an entrance practically invisible.

The breath caught in her throat.

Panic consumed her and she pounded her fist against the wall, screaming out in despair.

"That is quite enough," A voice echoed through the cell. "If you behave yourself we won't have to hurt you and risk hurting the children you carry inside you. After all, its them we want."

A fist of ice clenched at her heart and her hand went to her abdomen.

" That's a good girl," the voice chuckled when she fell against the wall and slumped to the floor.

Across from her a portion of the wall slip upward and a shadow stepped into the doorway.

" Please," she spoke softly as she stared up at the shadow. " Don't hurt my babies."

" Begging?" Rough hands grabbed her by the arms, pulling her to her feet. "Really, it does not become you, Your Highness."



Sweat and tears mingled on her face, her breathing coming in ragged gasps, as another wave of pain ripped through her body. Metal clamps held her wrists down to the medical table and a strong hand painfully grasped her shoulder as she fought the contractions.

" These children will be born whether you want it or not, Vess. Do not risk their lives and your own by trying to stop it."

The onslaught of pain released its hold on her momentarily and she stared up at Lupercus' amused face. " You will not have my children!" She hissed through clenched teeth.

" Oh but we will," Tevarii chuckled form her place next to the fetal monitor next to the medical bed. " You can not stop us." She stepped away from the monitor as another contraction overtook Vessana. " Now PUSH!"



The flash of light that suddenly illuminated the overwhelming darkness brought her unpleasantly from her unconsciousness. Wincing at the pain the light brought to her eyes she pushed herself off the cool, smooth surface she lay on and stood unsteadily on her feet. Her mouth and throat were painfully dry, and the scenario seemed all to familiar to her as she took in the tiny cell she occupied. The only difference from that day years ago was that the door was open.

Her heart pounded inside her chest as her thoughts immediately fell on the triplets. Almost a year old now they were her only hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. And now she had been separated from them, for what purpose she didn't know.

She rushed out into the compound screaming out her children's names. She could not feel them, or any other for that matter, and her fears were confirmed when she had ran through the entire building and found nothing.

They had taken her children and left her behind.

Vessana fell to her knees, her sobs echoing through the corridors. It would have been better if they had killed her than to leave her with the knowledge that her children, her son and daughters, were in the hands of those two.



The gardens of the Fountain Palace knew no match through the entire Cluster or the galaxy beyond. And it was from her spot hidden in the shadows of the garden that she watched the celebration welcoming the new Queen Mother of the Hapan people.

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

Her last hope had been placed in uniting once again with Dakkon so that together the two of them could scour the Galaxy and find their children. But that hope was dashed, and her heart shattered with every passing moment that she watched.

He had been hers, in heart, body, and soul. They had sworn to love each other through the eternity's, forsaking all others, and bonded together with more than the vows of marriage. He was to have been her saviour, and she his. Vessana and Dakkon, the greatest love this Galaxy had ever seen.

But he had given up.

Year ago Vessana Dionysus had been pronounced dead when she could not be found in the ruins of the Ginalo mansion on Ut. An explosion just before she was to have addressed the Senate tore through the home, killing all that were left inside. Lurida Ginalo, the house servants, royal handmaidens, Sorsha... all of them had been inside when it went up in flames.

A silent tear streaked down her cheek as she watched Dakkon kiss his new wife. He seemed happy, and in the deepest recess of her heart she knew that was all that mattered. But the soul shattering pain of that moment left her numb, and she turned and fled from the gardens.

He had forgotten her...

<font color=CC3333>The rainbow gem encrusted ring sparkled amazingly underneath the scrutany of the jewler behing the counter. With an appreciative whistle, the man released her left hand. " Those are some stones you got there, there's no way I can pay you what they're worth."

Vess fingers ran over her wedding ring, admiring the smoothness and beauty of the precious gems, painfully remembering. " No, I suppose you can't. But I'll take what you can give me. I need the credits." She pulled off the ring, scraping the skin beneath the circlette as it was removed from her finger for the first time since she and Dakkon were married. She tossed it onto the counter, choking back the tears that threatened to fall.

The man raised an eyebrow at her, before lifting the one of a kind ring into his hand to inspect it closer agian. " I don't see this quality very often, where did you say you got it again?"

A soft scowl replaced the look of sorrow on her face. " I didn't, and you're not going to ask again. Are you going to buy it, or not?"

" Of course," he said, opening the register, " but like I said, you'll only be getting about a tenth of what this ring is worth."

" It'll be enough," with a sigh she brushed a strand of newly dyed brown hair behind her ear and looked over her shoulder. Even the furthest outskirts of the capital city of Hapes were beautiful, but the signs of the lowerclass were evident none the less. The precense of the seedy pawn shop was one such sign.

" So what name am I putting on the claim voucher?" the owner spoke, his voice bringing her head back around to look at him.

" None, I don't want it back." She kept her eye adverted, making a pretense of looking at the other items beneath the counter's display. Her crystal blue eyes fell onto the rows of weapons " You said you're only giving me a portion of what the ring's worth?"

" Yea, that's right."

" What about the rest in trade. I need some supplies and it'll help the creds go further if I don't have to spend them already." She pointed to the weapons. " That one, extra charge cartriges, and the tazer. And I'll be needing a case that can get me through customs and off the planet."

The man narrowed his eyes at her as he reached inside the case. " The Sentinel IV? What's a pretty lady like yourself needing a weapon like that for?"

" The galaxy's a dangeorus place, and i'm going to need something to protect myself aren't I? Now, can we finish doing business? I have a transport to catch"




The waiting area of the space port was brimming with people coming and going. Her face hidden beneath a dark hood she kept herself to a stool inside the lounge until her transport was ready to board. Vess found herself staring at the pale line on the ring finger of her left hand, at the place where the ring Dakkon had given her once rested. She sighed, taking another shot of Tequilla, and motioned for the bartender droid for another.

She had to forget Dakkon, forget Hapes, everything her life had once been. The only thing that mattered now was finding her children. But she had no idea where to start looking. There were thousands of systems, countless planets, and she didn't even have a clue as to where they may have been taken. All she could do was try to find Lupercus and Tevarii and hope her children were still with them.

" Now boarding, Transport 30B44. Non stop from Hapes to M'haeli."

The announcement came over the comm system just as the droid set the shot glass of liquor in front of her. Rising from the stool she downed the golden liquid and tossed a credit chip onto the bar. She joined the rest of the throng of people that now made their way for the boarding platform. M'haeli had been the first transport off Hapes, and as good a place to start looking as any.

</font>

<font color=666699>The pawn shop owner had stared at the ring he had procured that morning for almost an hour. The gems were an uncommon cut, an expensive cut, and worth a hell of a lot more than what he paid for it. Something felt off about the woman the moment she asked for a weapon. He had first thought her a disgruntled wife leaving her cheating husband, but the blaster changed everything. The ring was most likely stolen, and he was not going to risk loosing his liscenses over the woman.

He opened a strong box hidden beneath the register and placed the ring inside as a customer entered the shop. He would have the stones removed, the setting melted down, sell them to some others in the trade. Either way he was making a profit. He closed the strong box and smiled at the customer. " Yes, may I help you?"</font>

<font color=CC3333>Shouting, blaster fire, sirens, those were the sounds that welcomed her as she woke. Vess moaned, the pain exploding in her head - and the half empty bottle of Danaru - serving as a reminder of the nights events. Strands of hair fell over her face as she lifted her head from the lump mattress and looked around the still dark motel room. It was cheap, and it looked it, but it was all that she could afford.

The credits she had got from her ring didn't last long, not when one had to pay for various transports. M'haeli had proved entirely fruitless, as had Corellia, and Dantooine, and now Bonadan. The realization of how pointless and hopeless it was hit her earlier in the night. Danaru was the strongest liquor she could get, and it numbed the heartbreaking pain temporarily.

But it all came rushing back with the mother of all hangovers, and all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry. She had hit rock bottom, the lowest point in her life that she could ever remember. She had been a Queen, respected, revered, adored, and now it had all been taken away from her. All by one man, one man that now had her children and had left her to wallow in despair as he knew she would.

Grabbing the half empty liquor bottle she let it fly toward the opposite wall as she let out a scream containing all her pain and anguish. A single tear trickled down her cheek, and she resolved that it would be the last tear she shed.

Lupercus would pay for destorying her life, she would see to that personally.

<font color=CC3333>The Star Seeder transport lurched slightly as the pilot pulled it out of Hyperspace and into temporary orbit around Ossus. It had been easy to sneak her way onto the ship, with more than seven hundred colonists, looking for a new planet on which to start over again, she had easily blended in with the rest of the passengers.

As the hundreds of people around her began to gather their things and family's to them, preparing for landing on the planet surface, she pulled the hood of her jacket up and over her dark hair, bathing her face in shadows. There were very few people on Ossus that would have recognized her, even less now that she had changed her appearance, but she didn't want to take the risk. As far as the Galaxy was concerned she was dead, had died more than two years ago, and it was better she stay that way.

<font color=6699CC>" Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Ossus. We will be beginning our descent into the atmosphere momentraily, and just wanted to warn you of a mild electrical stom near our landing point. There will be some turbulance, but we assure you there is nothing to be concerned about. Once again, we wish to Welcome you to Ossus."</font>





Fires and smoke billowed out of the many tears and holes in the hull of the transport. The minor turbulance had turned into more when an electrical bolt has struck the transport, shorting out its systems and sending it into a tailspin and crashing into the Ossus soil.

But it was the weapons fire that kept the remaining passengers that had survived inside the wreck. The crew of the transport were fighting with the a tribe of savage Ysanna, but from what Vess had overheard, the crew was confident they could defend what was left of the ship and its passengers until help arrived.

In the meantime, Vess found herself helping the ships medical team - a farily small team - with the wounded and dead. Blood trickled down a small gash along her hair line, but she ignored it as she was helping stabalize a broken leg.

" Not many survived," she spoke in a hushed voice to the medic as they stood and surveyed the wounded.

He shook his head sadly, <font color=6699CC>" It looks that way."</font> With a weary sigh, they moved on to the next of the wounded.</font>

"Treyaku, veka lak, veka lak!!!" roared the Ysanna Shamen at his scavenger warriors who were pummelling the twisted shipwreck with thier primitive weapons.


Most natives of Ossus were peaceful however it was not at all rare to find the occasionally aggressive tribe who resorted to scavenging for survivial.


"Mula ri, kernt rasis, ma jo loras gri!!." Screamed the Shamen again, trying to be heard over the hammering of the rain into the Ossun mud.

One of the natives turned behind the group pointing at a glow coming from the darkness behind them, "Moraka!!Seebu seebu!!" he blurted.


"Nakri! Jedi Jedi!."

The swishing hum of a lightsaber could be heard over the patter of the rain. The Ysanna turned to the Jedi, letting off volleys of thier concussed arrows, each blocked by the sabers vibrant red glow.

The Jedi advanced, cutting his way through several of the tribesmen including the shamen.


The loss of thier leader was too much and the rest began to retreat.


The Jedi deactivated his Lightsaber, letting the rain be heard again.


Ren pulled back his hood, letting the rain trickle over his features.He turned to the crash, waving his arms in it's direction.

<font color=lime>"Hello!! It's safe, what word have you of your wounded!?"

<font color=3399CC> The few remaining crew lowered their weapons, stepping out into the rain as the Jedi approached. " Its not pretty," one said sullenly. " Half the crew dead, and it sound like most of the colonists are as well. The medics are doing what they can until the rescue ships get here, even a few of the survivors are helping out."

Holstering weapons, the crew stepped aside to allow the assumed leader to take the Jedi into the wreck. " More than eight hundred people on board, including crew. We've got less than a hundred people breathing now."</font>

<font color=CC3333>

The cut on her head was beginning to throb beneath the crusted blood, and the blood on her hands from the dead and wounded was beginning to stain. Vess wiped at a bead of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and turned away from the moaning man at her feet. She had done everything she could to make him comfortable, but unless the rescue ships got there soon he wasn't likely to survive.

Crystal blue eyes took in everything in the make-shift triage, settling onto a family clutching desperately onto one another. Mother, father, and two sons, they had all boarded the transport and thank the gods they had all survived. They were the lucky ones, not having to say good-bye to a loved one.

Her breath caught in her throat as she choked back the tears, her mind racing to her own children as she looked on the family. Were they safe? Did they miss her? How her arms ached at that moment to hold them to her.

She wrenched her head away from the family, pulling herself back to the situation at hand, but stopped when she saw a familiar face entering with some of the crew. Vess had played the odds, and had lost. If he recognized her now...

Pulling the hood of her jacket over her head again she sat next to the dying man, taking his hand in hers, and tried to hide herself in the mass of wounded.</font>

Ren listened intently as the crash's temporary leader informed him of thier casualties.

<font color=lime>"There's little need to worry now, shuttles are already on thier way, they'll be here within minutes."

<font color=white>He looked around, surveying the damage , all the while trying to distance himself from the mighty stench of death that hung in the air like a heavy poison. Ship and body parts lay strewn across the wreckage, and inside his head he could sense the screams . . . the pain and terror of the people trapped within the bowels of twisted durasteel.

Scanning the wreckage he sensed something else. An anomaly, a glitch. A presence that, according to all accounts, shouldn't be.

It was unidentifiable, to weak to pinpoint. Something shielded, not wanting to be found, yet crying out for help.


Ren continued through the wreck, but stopped a few steps in. The feeling of a faint echo caused him to halt, pushing him away.


Shrugging it off, he started down the wrecked corridor again, the feeling growing stronger as he went further down the shaft.


To his right, a family, frozen, shuddering, obviously in shock from the crash.

To his left, a dying man, bloodied, he didn't have long.

Then there it was again, the imprint of a feeling, a memory of something lost, something not so unfamiliar.

Someone lay next to the man, in the shadow, sitting down, covered in a veil of leather.


<font color=lime>"You there, are you alright?"<font color=white>

The figure nodded, hesitantly.

<font color=lime>"Please, let me . . ." <font color=white> Ren paused briefly, pondering whether he wished to continue, <font color=lime>" . . . let me, see your face."

<font color=white>Ren was about to reach for her hood, when the familiar hum of spacecraft engines could be heard overhead.

"The transports are here." Calls went out all over the crash site.

A crackled transmission came over Ren's comm link. "Master Janggar, med shuttles, sigma and omega are reporting and ready to take casualties, sir we need you over here." <font color=lime> "Alright, I'll be be right there." <font color=white>Said ren, rushing off back to the transports.

<font color=CC3333>With a glance out of the corner of her eyes she looked at Ren standing a few feet from her. It had been all so perfect, her plan to come to Ossus to find information on a Sith. Naboo would have been too difficult to go unnoticed, and she would not death with the darker factions of Force users. No, the Rogue Jedi were the only ones that could have possibly held that information and kept her anonymity.

But that was rapidly melting away with ever second she sat under Mr. Jangarr's scrutany. One of the only two Jedi of the Rogue Order that she did not want to see...

And then he was gone, the transpots having arrived and needing his supervision. Vess turned her head slightly, keeping her face - and thoughts - obscured with shadows and watched him go.

A few moments later, medics and rescue personel were swarming about the area. One knelt across from her, checking the man she had been with for lifesigns, then sadly looked up at her. " Is there anyone we need to notify?"

She shook her head. " I didn't know him, was just keeping him comfortable."

The medic gave her a little smile then noticed the gash on her head. Her pushed her hood back a little, him fingers surprisingly gentle as they examined it. " You should get this looked at, you may have a concussion."

" I'm fine." She pulled back from his touch, pulling the hood back up over head. " Just get me to the nearest city and I'll take care of it." Vess glanced around again, anxious now more than ever to get away from the crash sight and out rom under Jangarr's observant eyes.</font>

Three large personell shuttles had set down fifty yards from the crash site, emergancy crews scurrying out into the depths of the wreckage going about thier work to bring in the survivors.


The medical cheif noticed Ren coming from the crash, and made an effort to catch his attention over the howling wind and rain.

"Master Janggar!" He blurted, "sir, I have some bad news!"

<font color=lime>"What seems to be the problem?"

<font color=white>"Before we left, we recieved word of a heacy weather warning, if the charts are correct then a major storm is headed this way. If we don't hurry now and get as many of the survivors as we can, we won't make it out alive!"


<font color=lime>"How long 'till the storm hits?"

<font color=white>"According to the readout, 16 minutes."

<font color=lime>" The I suggest we double our efforts. Load as many of those that can walk into shuttle's one and two. I will ride to the medical facility with the more critical.

Let's go!"




<font color=red>The Storm Approaches


<font color=lime>"Get them on board! Hurry! We don't have much time!"

How many is that?"


<font color=white>"We've managed to load on two hundred survivors, but there's still some left inside the wreckage!"


<font color=lime>"We have to go and get them!"

<font color=white>"We can't, there's no time! Look."

The Medic pointed into the sky above, a swirling vortex of crackling dark cloud was festering, bristling with bolts of electricity. Tendrils of dust and energy lept out from the clouds touching down to the surface of the planet, ripping and tearing the ground.

"We can't save them all, if we try to now, we risk all our lives!"

Ren winced at the thought of more death, but far too many had already died, he would have to sacrifice them.


<font color=lime>" . . . tell the shuttles to lift off! We can't do any more here."


<font color=white>The transport's hatches closed and thier engines powered up.

The storm front was upon them and the air had become filled with flying debris from the crash.

Suddenly a blinding bolt of blue energy lashed out from the clouds above striking shuttle one and tearing a wing support from it';s hinges. The craft plummeted in a tailspin back to the ground erupting with a blinding yellow flash.


"Good heavens, we just lost shuttle one!"

<font color=lime>"Pilot! Get us out of here, maximum speed!!"


<font color=white>The transport's afterburner's shot into overdrive sending them rocketing out of the path of the raging storm, and onwards, to safety, while behind the storm feasted on the carcass of the dead passenger ship.

<font color=CC3333>Everything was pandamonium. Rescue personal moving what survivors they could before the storm hit, Vess once again found herself helping those not strong enough to help themselves. She was one of the last onto the third shuttle.

The strom was upon them as they took to the air, and she could only watch as one of the shuttles when down in flames. She lowered her head, taking in a shuddering breath in an atempt to calm herlsef. She had never been able to accept such loss of life, not in the past and not now.

Within minutes they were out of the storm and out of immediate danger. Vess sat back in her seat until the shuttle touched down and the hatch opened. Those that had to be carried out and required immediate medical attention were moved first, then those that could walk on their own were allowed to disembark

Vess weaved her way through the crowd, making her way toward the medical facility they had landed by. Once there she could find out where on Ossus she was and from the look of the place they weren't in a very populated area. That didn't bode well for her if she intended to find the information she needed.

She was almost to the entrance when a hand gripped her upped arm. " Hold on there, we need to get statements from survivors to find out what happened."

" I don't remember anything," she tried to pull away but the hand tightened.

" We'll need to get your name and a way to contact you."

" I said I don't remember," She snapped, her voice rising slightly. " Now get your hands off me!" She pushed him away, and hurried into the building. Ossus seemed to be the wrong place for her to be, and she wondered what had possessed her to think otherwise.

Outside of the medical facility, she looked around the small settlement. She needed to find a way to one of the larger cities.