Fiorelli's Starship Repair Emporium (and Snack Bar) consisted of a small front office, a smaller snack bar with overpriced food, and a hangar roughly sixty meters cubed. High shelves ran up the sides of the empty ship bay. The hangar doors were locked and, from the corrosion and dust on the opening mechanism, had been locked for quite some time. Riordan could have picked a more disreputable place to have a meeting, but he would've had to go to the uninhabitable parts of the ship to do it. Red and Rianna sat alone in the office, watching the hangar through the window for signs of life. After several minutes of watching, Red stood, adjusting the large broadsword strapped to his back, and walked over to the window for a better look. Pointing at the high, wide shelves on either side, he mumbled, "I couldn't possibly think of a better place for a trap, could you?" "Nope," Rianna mused, picking up the strap of the cargo box containing the Egg and walking over to stand beside him. "Wonder where the tripwires are?" "They wouldn't use tripwires," Kris muttered. "A bomb or mine, or even an automatic rifle, might damage the Egg. No, I suspect it'll come from gunmen, hiding there," he pointed to the tops of the shelves, "and there." Sighing, he whispered, "And people wonder why I hate my job." "Doesn't lend itself to brimming with optimism," Rianna nodded, fighting down the dark knot in her stomach. In her head, she kept repeating the First Rule of the Sith; Control the darkness, or be controlled by it. I am in control. I am in control... "Nope," Kris sighed. "Only one way to find out, though..." Slowly, he reached for the door control and keyed it open, relaxing visibly when nothing exploded. "Okay, looks good so far," he said. Rianna and Redneck stepped out into the hangar, watching for the least sign of movement. Their footsteps echoed off the metal deck as they walked towards the center of the hangar. Kris kept looking up uneasily at the shelves around them. he sent to Rianna. Rianna replied, trying not to let Kris' anxiety infect her, Almost as she thought it, she felt the faintest disturbance, a hint of movement... "Good afternoon." Kris and Rianna spun around to see Riordan step out from behind one of the shelves. "I believe you have something which belongs to my employer," he said quietly, holding out a hand. "Would you be so kind as to hand it over?" "If you don't mind, Mr. Riordan," Rianna replied. "I'd like to receive my payment for the artifact first." "But of course," Riordan smiled. "Twenty thousand, as per the agreement. Your commission will be paid when Mr. Lynch sells the artifact." From a pocket he produced a large wad of currency and began pulling off bills. "Save your money, old man," a melodious voice called from the office door, "you won't be needing it anyway." A tall blonde woman walked through the door, wearing a skin-tight black dress beneath an even darker cape. Behind her stood several thugs in long trenchcoats, two of whom held a certain very angry redheaded elf by the arms, dangling over the deck. Red took one look at the newcomer and immediately felt a wave of unreasoning terror; at the same time, Rianna's eyes widend momentarily as she sensed the blonde woman's power, dark and strong. the two echoed mentally. "Now then," the woman smiled, <> Her smile seemed to grow wider, her features more attractive. Rianna tensed and forced herself to relax, not moving at all. "Would you care to tell me why I should, Miss...?" The woman's smile vanished. "I am Jina Menesch, the Black Queen," she growled. "Queen of Mary Kay," Red quipped. "Tell me, have you won your pink shuttle yet?" "SILENCE!" Jina raised her hand, and Red flew across the hangar, slamming hard into the bay doors, which rang with the impact. He slid to the floor, shaken but uninjured. "Be grateful I don't kill you now, insolent man!" the Black Queen growled before turning back to Rianna. "Now then, little girl... you will hand the Egg over to me... or the elf gets to find new definitions to the words, 'pain,' 'torment,' 'suffering,' and 'death!'" Gesturing to one of the hulking brutes holding Mayl off the floor, she purred, "Here's a small taste, child..." The Neanderthal holding Mayl tightened his grip on her wrist. "OOOOOOOOWWW!!" Mayl cried, squirming as the thug bent down, grasped her ankle, and began pulling up and back on her leg. Tears streaked down Mayl's face as her foot was pulled higher and higher, and Rianna flinched as she felt the excess pain flow into her. "Enough," Jina said, and the Neanderthal released Mayl's leg, leaving her to dangle by her wrists again. Jina smiled sensuously and cuddled up to another of her goons, who stood impassive. "Aren't my pretties wonderful?" she cooed. "They always obey orders, they never worry about satisfaction... and you can use them up and throw them away. But still, only men." She pulled away from the goon and walked over to Mayl, running a hand along her trembling, tear-streaked cheek. "So... you will give me the Egg now... won't you, child?" "Hand *me* the egg," Riordan barked. With a snap of his fingers, roughly twenty gunmen appeared atop the shelves, surrounding the hangar with blaster rifles. "Or nobody leaves this hangar alive." Rianna looked back and forth from the gunmen to Jina's goons. "Gentlemen and lady," Kris said before Rianna could say anything. "Perhaps we could just collect our friend, leave the Egg, and let you settle this dispute between yourselves. There's really no reason for anyone to get hurt..." Silently, he said to Rianna, Rianna sent back, unobtrusively readying herself. "Bedamned with your talk!" Jina shouted, "I will have the Egg *now!*" At the wave of her hand, the cavemen not occupied with holding Mayl reached into their trenchcoats and removed laser rifles, snapping them into firing position in unison. "Shoot 'em all, men!" Riordan shouted.,"but DON'T HIT THE EGG!" Twenty laser rifles opened fire. The Neanderthals returned fire, filling the hangar with laser bolts, a few of which ricocheted from the magnetically-sealed bay doors. Red threw up an energy shield and dodged for cover, barely deflecting the first volley in time. Rianna froze for a split second as blaster shot after blaster shot flew around, but nowhere near, her; neither side wanted to take a chance with damaging the Egg. Suddenly, the cargo box leapt into the air, straining against the shoulder strap, struggling to fly into Jina's outstretched arms. Reaching out to the Dark Side, Rianna countered Jina telekinetic pull, pulling the box back towards her. Jina smirked as she felt Rianna pull the cargo box back. "So," she purred, "finally an opponent worthy of my attentions." The invisible pull on the cargo box vanished. From the depths of her cape, a lightsaber dropped into Jina's hands, and she ignited it with a sinister-sounding hiss. The purple blade hummed menacingly as Jina stepped cautiously forward, closer and closer to Rianna. Rianna dropped the cargo box gently, sending a quick to Red as she unclipped and ignited her own lightsaber. The red beam swished to life to meet the purple, humming in quiet dischord with the Black Queen's sabre. The two women circled amidst the firefight, still untouched by the bolts, as Rianna probed her opponent for weakness. Almost immediately she sensed Jina's total insanity, a mind which had bent and broken under the weight of the Dark Side. The Force is strong with her, she thought to herself. I must be very careful, must keep control. Anger, fear, agression... use them, or be used by them. Like her. "Prepare to become one with the Dark Side, little girl!" Jina's blade flashed down into Rianna's, striking sparks as the lightsabers clashed again and again. The red blade blocked stroke after stroke, slash and parry and block, as Jina tried to break Rianna's defenses. Slowly the two women moved away from the Egg, swords blurring, ignoring the continuous rain of blaster fire. Redneck peered around the end of the shelves closest to the outer hangar doors, looking through the glowing red haze of an energy shield at the now-abandoned cargo box, sitting alone in a laser-filled No Man's Land. He glanced over at Rianna, who was holding her own with Jina, and then to Mayl, who seemed to be getting more uncomfortable by the second hanging by her wrists. An idea flashed full-grown into Red's mind. Part of him called it foolish, if not suicidal, but the rest of him shouted down the voice of reason. Surrounding himself with shields, he ran out into the firefight, scrambing forward and scooping up the cargo box on the run. He popped the box open and removed the Egg, waving it overhead for everyone to see. "Hey, you with the elf!" he shouted, catching the attention of the two guardian toughs holding Mayl above the deck. "CATCH!" Kris lobbed the Egg in a lazy arc through the gunfire at the guards, over Rianna and Jina, over Riordan, unscathed. One goon let go of Mayl's arm, leaving her to hang by the other, and prepared to catch the Egg. As soon as Mayl's arm fell free, Kris drew the huge broadsword and shouted, "MAYL! Think fast!" and HURLED the sword at her. he thought, Mayl, seeing the point of the sword coming straight at her, swung herself out of its path, pulling her remaining captor's body off balance. The sword plunged through his throat and out the other side, and with a gurgle the Neanderthal released Mayl and fell lifeless. Red thought as he watched, Mayl landed on her feet- an act which would have shocked Rianna speechless if she'd seen it- and quickly drew the blood-stained sword from the Neanderthal's throat. The blade glowed with a blue aura as Mayl moved to the attack, slashing first one goon and then another from behind, making quick work of Jina's henchmen. As Mayl disposed of her captors, Red turned his attention to the gunmen atop the shelves. Leaping up onto one of the shelves, he reformed his shields into twin energy blades. He landed atop the shelves, sweeping the blades through the gunman closest to him. The other gunmen quickly moved to the hangar floor. As Mayl's sword flashed through the fifth and last of Jina's heavies, she shouted, "The -next- time you slimy rhop'ps want my donuts, you ASK!" Nodding with satisfaction, she reached over to pick up the Egg from the fallen goon's still fingers. As her right hand grasped the artifact, one of Riordan's gunmen decided to take the opportunity to pick her off. Mayl heard the first couple of blasts miss, spanging away at the deck just in front of her, and instinctively raised her hands to block the shots. Unfortunately the hand which blocked the next shot was not the one holding the sword. ZARK ZARK ZARK *ZSCRUNCH*. "ACK!" pretty much summed up Mayl's entire stream of thought as the artifact crumbled in her grasp. The quiet sound of the Egg crumbling to the deck echoed in the abruptly silent hangar. Rianna and Jina, lightsabers crackling softly against each other. stared in open astonishment at the whimpering elf, who was stifling curses as she tried to hold the remnants of the Egg together by sheer force... and failed miserably. Riordan's gunmen lowered their weapons in confusion, as Riordan gaped slack-jawed in utter shock. Red, alone of all the people in the room, was smiling. "Well," he said weakly, "looks like we have a classic example of detente. We don't have it. He doesn't have it," he said, pointing at Riordan, "and she doesn't have it," and he pointed at Jina. "So, how about we all cut our losses and try to forget all this ever happened?" The deadly silence gave his proposal all the answer it deserved. "GET THEM!" Jina and Riordan both shouted, and the fight resumed hotter than ever. Rianna moved back a few steps as Jina attacked once more, this time with an almost rabid ferocity. Rianna reached out to the Black Queen's mind for a moment and recoilled at the raw, overpowering rage flowing through the horribly twisted mind and into the Force. Whatever tiny shred of sanity Jina had ever posessed had vanished, replaced by the pure devouring fury of the Dark Side. Rianna felt a powerful darkness snake through the room, feeling the raw fury coming from the dark woman. Rianna sensed the madness spread outward, probing the room around them. A large object- perhaps an old laser cannon housing- rattled on one shelf, then flew across the room towards Rianna's head. She spun around and cleaved it in half, then swung back just in time to parry a crushing blow from the purple blade. More objects began to rattle and take to the air, and Rianna quickly found herself being buffeted from all sides. Red forced himself to ignore the ebb and flow of Dark Side energies around him, concentrating instead on dodging the concentrated fire of Riordan's goons. Across the room, Mayl dodged her own group of gunmen, rolling and leaping from hidey-hole to hidey-hole barely ahead of the blasts. As Mayl's dodging brought her into the open, Red focused his concentration, dropped his shield and channeled a blast of power at the cluster of goons focusing on Mayl. The nearest gunman vanished in a flash of heat and vapor, and the others turned their attentions to the greater threat, forcing Red to raise his shields and duck behind a shelving unit. he thought to himself, Rubbing his shoulder, which had caught two blaster shots full-on, Red watched as Mayl ducked behind another set of shelves. After a moment, she nodded to herself and stepped out into the open, deflecting the occasional blaster bolt with her sword. Then, as Red began to wonder just what Mayl was up to, she leveled the blade of her sword and pointed it at one of the snipers. The blade's glow flared, and a brilliant bolt of energy shot from the tip straight into the gunman, blowing a giant hole in his chest and ruining his day. As Red leaped over the heads of the remaining gunmen, scattering them with random blasts, he thought to himself: Rianna stumbled as yet another Force-levitated heavy object hit her, this time in the back between the shoulderblades, almost forcing her into her own lightsaber blade. Bruises covered her arms, legs and back, and her eyesight had begun to blur from repeated blows to the head. Through it all, she kept on, focusing on the Dark Side, using it to turn away Jina's blade at the last moment time and again. Staggering, Rianna closed her eyes, drawing her awareness inwards as the raw power of the Dark Side buffeted her. Rianna thought. She was not as strong as Jina... no sane person could be... but if Rianna could keep control, Jina's strength might be negated. she thought, reaching deep into herself. <> The Dark Side responded, not with the raw power she had felt on Hyeruul, or the uncontrolled storm Jina wielded, but a cold, refined, controllable strength. The power flowed into her, bringing a strange, preternatural calm, much like the feeling her mother had taught her to seek and which had eluded her before. With the merest thought, the objects which had been battering her flew away. A second thought shoved the Black Queen, forcing her backwards, stumbling, out of reach. Recovering, Jina found herself staring into the eyes of a woman calm, controlled, and powerful. "I don't -like- people who throw things at me," Rianna whispered. Jina felt the steel in the voice, the determination in the eyes, and faltered. The debris still floating around the hangar fell to the deck, and Rianna sensed a tiny spark of panic growing in her opponent. "Now, are we going to fight, or am I not worthy of your time anymore?" Rianna asked as she began to circle closer, the glowing red blade of her lightsaber rock steady. Jina screamed wordlessly, swinging her lightsaber wildly, forcing Rianna back once more. This time, however, there was not a trace of skill or concentration in the mad woman's attack. She was running on raw rage... and she left herself wide open. Guided gently by the Force- not forcibly, as she had been before- Rianna smoothly stepped away from one of Jina's thrusts. The Black Queen found herself overextended, arm hanging out in space... and Rianna's blade slashed down and through it. The firefight paused as a shriek of primal agony rent the air, as Jina's lightsaber clattered to the deck, followed by most of her arm. Jina grasped at the stump of her arm, cauterized by the slash, and howled with pain and anger as Rianna stepped closer, saber held at guard. Ignoring the humming blade pointed at her throat, Jina glared at Rianna, and gasping from the pain, she husked, "I...am not... going to lose... to a little GIRL!" Reaching through her pain and desperation, Jina took hold of the very essence of the Dark Side itself and flung it all at Rianna. Blue-white lightning flew from Jina's hand and severed wrist, striking Rianna, driving her to her knees. Rianna screamed as the Force lightning struck her body and soul. She tried to deflect the bolts, to push them away with the Force, but the bolts kept coming. She fell to her knees, trembling and spasming with pain, and in her mind she screamed for help. The Force seemed to twist and knot around the hangar, and Red shook behind his shields as if someone had knifed him in the gut. He looked up to see lightning- pure Force energy, perverted into this form- striking Rianna, while the maimed Black Queen smiled triumphantly. A moment later, Rianna's mental scream exploded in his mind, blowing his concentration for a moment and allowing several blaster shots to connect. Reeling, he forced his shields back up and shouted, "MAYL! Cover me!" Reforming his shields into a beamstaff, he ran from his hiding place and ran forward towards Jina, shouting, "CHAAAARGE!!" "Cover him?" Mayl gasped, ducking between two shelves and drawing the fire of the five or so remaining gunmen. Jina glanced away from her primary victim, noticing the man charging towards her, and raised the stump of her arm towards him. The lightning which bathed Rianna's body branched off to touch Red, and his scream turned from defiance to pain. As he struggled forward through the onslaught, Rianna felt her pain ebbing, as Jina's attention turned from her to her new opponent. Red fell to one knee, struggling forward through a growing storm of blue-white rage. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself back to his feet and staggered forward another step. Jina responded by adding to the storm around him, forcing him back to his knees, drawing more and more power away from her attack on Rianna... ... until, with every ounce of power she could muster, Rianna reached out through the Force and shoved the remaining lightning away. For a split second, Jina's concentration wavered, and Rianna dove deep into her enemy's open, vulnerable mind... ... she saw a young woman, intrigued by the promise of magic, betrayed by years of rape, abuse and neglect... saw the same woman, scarred and angry, lash back at her master, snapping his neck during yet another rape... saw the hatred, blind and all-consuming, of all males... and finally, the callous disregard of other lives. The student had, truly, become the master... soul devoured by the power of the Dark Side. The onslaught returned, but now Rianna was able to block the pain as she looked for a final opening. She regretted having to kill this woman, who the universe had so wronged... but now, nothing remained of Jina Menesch except a shell controlled by the Dark Side. For the benefit of the Force as a whole, Light and Dark, she had to be destroyed. Rianna gathered her power in, focusing on the energies dancing between her, Redneck and Jina... ... and the pain vanished, the lightning flying harmlessly away from her- and back into Jina. <> Jina reeled again as Rianna shattered her control. The Force lightning struck her, racking her body with new pain. Before she could recover, she saw the Santovasku woman leaping up from the deck, lightsaber flashing back to life, rising above her, striking... ...And that was the last thing she saw. Rianna knelt on the deck before Jina's fallen, smoking corpse, eyes closed, saber still humming in her hands, apparently calm and peaceful. Red stood up, jacket and shirt smoking from the lightning. Behind them both, Mayl stood cleaning her sword, having disposed of the last few gunmen herself. Red patted out a couple of smoldering spots on his jacket and walked over to Riordan, who had a small holdout blaster in his trembling hands. He smiled, "Mr. Riordan, I really don't think that will do you much good." Ignoring the mobster, he walked over to the pile of metal and circuitry which had been the Egg and gathered it up into a ball and squeezed. The resulting lump was about half the size of the original shape, and much less regular. "Hm, not much to look at," he said. "I'll offer twenty thousand for it." "Why should I accept?" Riordan growled, putting away the blaster. "Sooner or later, we'll catch up to these two where you can't protect them... and then it'll be your turn." "Oh, I don't think so," Red smiled. "As it stands, Mr. Lynch has a large amount of assets tied up within the Home Fleet. It would be a shame if they were confiscated and he were prosecuted for racketeering without a license, wouldn't it?" From his hip pocket, he produced a small plastic badge, which he tossed over to the gangster. Riordan caught the card in midflight and looked at it, eyes widening as he finally recognized the man standing before him. "You wouldn't," he said flatly. "In a heartbeat, asswipe," Kris growled, smile vanishing. "Twenty thousand and status quo. Or take your hunk of silicon and get out of my fleet. Your choice." Riordan looked at the lightsaber in Rianna's hand, at the Hyelian broadsword in Mayl's grasp, at the still-smoking but intact Admiral Overstreet. He evaluated his chances of leaving alive if he didn't accept. "Sir," he whispered at last, "you just bought yourself an egg." Red reached into his pocket and pulled out a checkbook. With a few strokes of a pen, he filled out a voucher for twenty thousand Salcreds and handed it to Riordan. "Thank you," Riordan grumbled, returning Red's ID badge and preparing to leave. "It's been a distinct displeasure doing business with you." "Aren't you forgetting something?" Mayl asked, holding the sword at the ready. Riordan looked blankly at the elf, not knowing what she meant. "Payment for services rendered," Red said. "I believe it was twenty thousand plus a five percent commission on the sale. That comes to twenty-one thousand credits, if I've got my math right." He smiled. Grumbling, Riordan pulled out his wad of bills and peeled off the twenty-one thousand. Throwing them at Rianna's feet, he barked, "Can I go now?" Red graciously gestured towards the door. "By all means, don't let us keep you here any longer," he grinned. Still glowering, Riordan skulked out of the hangar. As soon as the door shut behind the mobster, Kris walked back and knelt down beside the stock-still Rianna. "Ri, are you all right?" he asked. Rianna finally opened her eyes and deactivated her lightsaber. "The Force was with me," she said quietly, relieved. Red looked carefully at Rianna. She felt different, much different, than when he'd been tackled by her... yesterday? Before, her aura had seemed like a storm of darkness surrounding a bright core; now, it was almost entirely light, a beacon supported by an obsidian pedestal. "How ya doin', then?" he asked at last. "Better... I have control again," she said. She reached down and picked up the Salcreds at her feet, standing up and counting them out. Cr21,000, all right. "Great..." she sighed, and her face slipped a bit. "That covers the first payment." "Hm..." The corner of Red's mouth jerked upwards in a sardonic grin. "I think I could help a bit with that..." Ploovo showed up at the Tarsus, along with a lawyer and two hired thugs, at precisely noon the next day. Rianna, Red and Mayl were moving the privateers' belongings onto a hovercart when the slimy loan shark walked up and said, "Ah, ladies, I knew I'd find you here. Now, I do understand if you don't have the money available for the payment, but after all, we do have a contract, and-" "Ah, Mr. Ploovo. Good to see you again." Rianna set down the box of supplies she had been carrying and dug out her wallet. From it she drew a small credit-stick and handed it to Ploovo. "Here," she smiled pleasantly. "Payment in full for the ship, and thank you." "Uh?" Ploovo quickly pulled out a cred-stick reader and checked the amount encoded on the stick. One hundred and ten thousand credits. It was actually a bit more than the amount his interest and payment schedule would have yielded. "Er, ah... yes, yes, of course," he managed to say, pocketing both reader and credit stick. "A pleasure doing business with you young ladies... I suppose..." He beagn to recover his composure, and he smiled as winningly as he could at Mayl as he said, "You know, this is a wild and dangerous world we live in... who knows when you'll need further assistance... perhaps I'll be seeing you real-" Redneck strode over to Ploovo, managing to loom over the oily man as he growled, "Listen here, pond scum, if I had so much as one piece of evidence that you'd committed a crime- even jaywalking- I'd call the 3WA to come haul your sorry ass away. As it is, I want you clear of the Home Fleet in one hour, got a grip, asshole?" To underscore his remark, he dropped his windbreaker down off his shoulders, revealing his duty-uniform tunic... and the rank insignia on it. Ploovo was hardly impressed. In fact, he puffed up like a greasy bantam rooster. "How dare you-" he began to rant, bulling up to Kris indignantly. The quiet fsssh of Rianna's lightsaber igniting silenced Ploovo quite effectively. The appearance of a beamstaff inches away from his nose stifled whatever fight remained in him. "Ah," he said, looking from red beam to red beam. Finally, he smiled and said, "Be seeing you." With a tiny shred of vanity remaining, he strutted out of the dock, lawyer and goons trailing behind. "*Thank* you." Rianna said, smiling as she shut down her saber. Red dissipated his beamstaff as well. "Well, it's nice to be able to do something against that bastard," he said. "Unfortunately, he's only one of the smaller fish around these days. Ever since the Solo twins hit him, he's lost most of his pull in the underworld. Oh, well." "Whew!" Mayl grinned, dropping her last suitcase on the hovercart. "That's everything, Redneck, sir! The ship's all yours!" Rianna took the pink-slip from her pocket and handed it to Red, who smiled as he pocketed it. "Pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Santova, Ms. Popp'fl," he grinned. "So, Red," Rianna asked, "what do you plan to do with this ship, anyway? A hundred thousand is a lot to pay for a run-down Tarsus." "Well then," Red grinned, shucking his windbreaker and rolling up the sleeves of his tunic, "I better get my money's worth of enjoyment, shall I?" With that, he re-ignited his beamstaff and strode resolutely towards the bulky ship. Rianna sensed Red's emotions as he approached the freighter; playfulness... eagerness... a great deal of anger and frustration, very carefully controlled and locked away... above all, the playfulness. Whatever he's about to do, she thought, it's gonna be good. Red walked up to the ship, looked it up and down, and grinned even wider. Suddenly, the beam leaped forward, growing into a huge red plane of energy, slicing through the hull. Red's hands moved, guiding the giant blade in a set pattern, slicing away a section of the hull, then slicing a section from the smaller piece. Slowly, the engine core of the ship was revealed, superstructure peeling away with delicate precision. With the huge mass of engine revealed, Red dissipated the energy blade Then he walked over and, with an extreme effort, lifted the thing up from the side. Red took one slow step after another, carrying the engine core in front of him, until he finally set the block of metal and wire onto a huge cargo carrier. He shoved the cargo carrier hard in the direction of the bay doors, sending it speeding across the hangar, through the airlock forcefields, and into open space. Once it was a safe distance from the ship, Red concentrated, and the engine core exploded in a brilliant red flash. Red walked back to the Tarsus, tossing a small ball of light from hand to hand. Rianna looked over at Mayl, who was gazing slack-jawed at Red as he built up the ball in his hands, finally sending it spiraling into the pile of wreckage which had been their ship. The ball grew into a huge sphere, surrounding the ship. Then, a second sphere appeared inside the first, hovering for a split second before detonating. The deck shook with the blast, and Rianna flinched before she noticed that the first sphere- a forcefield of some sort- contained the blast. Through the force sphere Rianna could see the smoking, half-melted remains of the ship. As she watched, small blades of energy flew inside the sphere, slicing up the remaining chunks of wreckage into smaller and smaller pieces. The clattering sound of pieces falling to the deck grew louder and louder as the blades flew faster and faster within the sphere. Finally, the blades slowed and stopped, and Red let the sphere dissolve into nothingness. The Tarsus lay in millions of roughly hand-sized slices and chunks piled here and there on the hangar deck. Red waded into the closest pile, selecting pieces here and there and slicing them with a smaller, hand-held energy sword. At this point her was blatantly showing off, even taking the chance to try some trick-shooting stunts. He was enjoying himself immensely. Finally, his sword fizzled, and Redneck waded out of the pile of wreckage. Mayl just stared in shock at the pile, registering Total Comprehension Failure. Rianna grinned widely, sharing in the intense pleasure and satisfaction Red was feeling. He grinned right back at her. "Yeah," he said, "that was worth a hundred thousand credits." Rianna's smile faded. "Well, that was fun to watch, but now what?" She thumbed through her wallet, counting carefully. "With that twenty-one thousand from Riordan, Mayl and I still came out in the red... and nobody sells starships for twenty thousand, at least not in flyable condition." Mayl's ears drooped. "I guess we'll just book passage back to Hyeruul," she moaned. Rianna didn't like the idea any better, but at least they had come out of this misadventure alive, and wiser. There would be other opportunities. "Well..." Red obviously had something in mind, but Rianna couldn't read it from his emotions. "I -could- sell you my freighter..." he said at last. Mayl's ears perked up. "You have a ship for sale?" "Here we go again..." Rianna groaned. "Oh, yeah," Kris said. "Twenty thousand would make a nice down payment... and I could finance the rest, at a much more reasonable rate than Ploovo was charging..." "Let's have a look at it," Rianna said. A few minutes later, Red keyed open a private ship bay opening out onto Docking Bay One, the main entry for bulk freight into the New Orleans. The ship berthed inside gleamed with fresh red paint, polished to a shine. It had the vague lines of a Z-95 Headhunter starfighter, only very much enlarged and modified into a gunboat. Four turbolaser barrels hung beneath the wide wings, and a particle-cannon turret sat near the rear of the arrowhead hull, between the four main engines. Twin missile launchers finished off the weapons load. Rianna looked around the hangar, ignoring the ship. "So where's our ship?" she asked. Red gestured to the gunboat. "That -is- your ship." Rianna's jaw dropped. "You're selling us a Centurion?" she gasped at last. "Bought it off an ex-WDF pilot last year when he retired from the CFMF," Red smiled. "After this mission, I was going to sell her back to the Fleet for parts... but I think you'll do much better by it." Mayl stared in complete rapture at the Centurion. Slowly, step by step, she walked on tiptoe towards the ship, eyes locked on its crimson finish. Red could imagine little hearts replacing her eyes as she ran her hand lovingly along its surface. "I hope this isn't too small for your needs," Red said. "Unfortunately, I really can't justify selling you ladies a Plymouth-III corvette or a Defiant-class gunship. This ship does have a job that comes with it, although I think you'll be able to handle it. And you'll have to buy an astromech droid, but that shouldn't be too much trouble." Smiling as Rianna joined Mayl in inspecting the ship, he added, "Maybe you'll be able to work with it." "It's PERFECT!!!" Mayl squealed, reaching out and hugging as much of the ship as she could. Without warning, she leaped over and hugged Red just as tightly, except that she could actually get her arms around him. Then, she pecked him on the cheek- and danced away, back to her true love, her new ship. Red smiled wryly as Rianna returned from her more sober inspection of the ship. "I've been jilted for a gunboat. Thank God," he chuckled. Rianna chuckled as well for a bit before saying soberly, "Red, you really shouldn't have done this. I don't know how I'm going to repay you... not the loan, but for-" "Listen to me very carefully," Red interrupted. "I helped you get yourselves out of a very tight jam. That's what friends do. Friends don't worry about owing favors, or debts of honor. Friends are there when you need them to be there. Just promise me you'll be there if I need you... you know I'll always be here if you need me. And don't talk to me about debts again... unless you're looking for work," he said, winking. Rianna smiled, gratitude bleeding through to Red's senses. "On my honor as a Sith Adept, I so promise." "Well, then," Kris said, "if that's settled, I suppose I'd better let you two get your things situated and get underway. Hope I see you two again soon, eh?" "You may be sure of it, Red," Rianna smiled. She kissed him on the cheek, smiled, and walked over to the ship to begin arranging her belongings inside. Why, Kris wondered to himself as he trudged away to begin working on three days' worth of backlogged paperwork, why do I have the feeling I'll be seeing a -lot- of those two? From her lab, Washuu watched and pondered as Kris walked away from the two privateers. Beside her lay the remnants of the Egg, now just so much scrap. Washuu thought, and with a wave of her hand the silvery lump vanished into pocketspace. she thought, Washuu focused her viewscreen on Rianna, who was exploring her new ship and stowing her belongings. With one hand, Washuu opened a new terminal and began searching the computer records system of the royal government of Hyeruul. Washuu thought, as she skimmed down to find the birth records subsystem. ...and life goes on...