"I'll go get HK-47 and/or T3-M3, whichever one you want." Karda said, walking out of the cockpit. He had also noticed Kira's momentary obsession for the Shard again, and it worried him. Whatever that piece had done, it wasn't for the better. Hopefully it could be reversed.

As he walked through the ship, he came across Jasra and Kira at the workbench. It appeared that Kira had just repaired Jasra's lightsaber. Wait... Lightsaber!? Karda stared. Where did she get that? She must have had some contact with the Jedi at one point.

(((Forget this later part of my post, I deleted it - It never happened.)))

From the corner of her eye, Jasra noticed Karda watching her as she gripped the lightsaber Kira had just repaired for her. Well, noticed wasn’t exactly the right word. Perceived. Sensed. Felt aware. Those were more like it.

She wondered what he was thinking. Hmph! Probably thinking that he should report her as a Sith to the duplicitous Jedi Council on Dantooine. Tell them how she had interfered with their plans for the Exile. That would go over well with those fossil-faced Masters of his! They loved scapegoats, and hated liabilities like half-trained Padawans. And no doubt the more skills she learned on her own, the bigger threat they would think her to be. Stupid Jedi. Thanks to Crystal, at least now Jasra had the skill to repel any unwelcome and painful Jedi mind probing. She hoped.

She turned and glared at him over her shoulder. "What? Are you lost?" she quipped.

Kira was about to answer Jasra when she noticed her glance over her shoulder.
"What? Are you lost?" she quipped.
Kira turned to the doorway to see Karda. He glanced at her, and whether he knew it or not, the Exile saw the worry in his eyes. She avoided his gaze, deciding instead to become suddenly quite interested in the floor.
He knows what happened in the cockpit. she thought.

"No." Karda replied. Why did she always have to be so touchy? "Is it a crime to stand in one spot?" He was getting a bit annoyed with her responses - He kept trying to calm himself, but he felt like he was losing some of his Jedi discipline lately.

"What about that lightsaber you are working on, wouldn't I be naturally curious as to why you have a lightsaber when you aren't a Jedi?"

Jasra's jaw set. "If you must know, it is not my lightsaber," she said to Karda. She was reluctant to tell him about her former Master Kelva lest he might have known her. "I... I ... found it when I was on Berrat III."

"Found it?" Crystal asked, entering the room. Then, she saw Jasra's face and smiled. "Quite an impressive find."

She leaned against a wall and observed the other three.

"Found it. Why would there be a lightsaber lying around on Berrat III?" Karda asked, not accepting her explanation.

Seeing where this was going, Kira stepped between the two, "We've landed," she said quickly, "Let's go meet with everyone else. We should see if we can come up with a plan for finding this...thing." she said, avoiding Karda's glance again as she mentioned the Shard.

*Well,* said the Doctor to Disciple. It feel's as if we've landed - you'll speak to Atton?*

Jasra swallowed. "Yes, it was," she said quietly to Crystal. It unnerved her that Crystal now looked so similar to Kelva. And Karda was beginning to make Jasra feel nervous. And she sensed that he was making Kira nervous, too. "Maybe it was lying around because the Jedi who owned it no longer needed it," she replied to him cryptically.

"I will." Disciple answered before keying the door open again, and proceeding to the main hold.

~*~*~

"Enough!" Kira said, "This conversation is over."

"Sorry," Jasra apologised to Kira. She took the lightsaber and tucked it back in her boot. "I'm ready to go when you are." She avoided looking at Karda, and stepped behind Kira.

"You know, for denying to be a Jedi, you sure could be one. You have a lightsaber, and you speak cryptically." Karda said. He felt sure that there was more to the story. "But yes, we had better get on Manaan." He walked out.

"Well," Atton said, flicking away the last bit of a fruit he was munching on as he sat at the edge of the loading ramp, "Welcome to the watery fish planet of Manaan, everyone. Here's a few rules for you first time visitors, don't start fights and don't talk back to the Selkath. Those fish-people are always so touchy..."
Kira continued down the ramp to stand slightly in front of him, gazing around the large dock area. "It's been so long since I've been here..." she breathed in deeply, taking in the salty air that blew in from the open wall of the docking bay.

*Yes, myself as well,* said the Doctor. *I haven't set foot on Mannan in.. oh, a few regenerations. My my,* he said, looking around. *Always wanted to come back. But, you know how it is - you put something off for a day, and next thing you know it's a hundred years later!*

"Unfortunately, I think you are the only one who has had that experience, Doc." Karda said, grinning. "I don't think I'd live that long."

*Yes. Quite,* said the Doctor, embarrassed. *Anyway, I believe we should press on.*

Jasra inhaled a deep breath of cool salty sea air. It was a welcome change from the recycled air onboard the Ebon Hawk. It was heaven compared to 'fresh air' on Taris.

She'd stopped here once before, nearly five years ago, during the time she was making her way back to Coruscant and the Jedi Temple. But she had never ventured beyond the docking hanger sectors.

She looked around. Yup, this is what she remembered. Everything in the docking port meticulously clean, cool, and organised. All in all, pretty boring.

Her stomach growled. Even though she would go wherever Kira decided to go, Jasra felt she could do with something to eat. She looked at the fruit rind Atton had tossed to the deck being swept away by a cleaning droid. He had had a snack. She couldn't be the only one that was hungry. And cantinas were always a good place to find out what was going on locally.

"So," she asked Kira. "Is there a cantina or something around here? I'm starving."

"Yes, perhaps we should get something to eat before we go looking for the shard," said Nyssa from behind the Doctor. "I'm awfully hungy as well."

The flight through hyperspace brought him to Manaan just a few minutes after the Hawk arrived. He caught Aton talking witht he docking authorities. And after doing some research on his comp, and a few queries he reliazed that hopping off his ship onto one of these floating cities wasn't gonna happen. So he docked. Making sure to be near enough to the Hawk to get to them easily, but far enough away to not be noticed accidently.

He slipped out of the small ship, and stretched. He'd been getting cooped up in that tiny compartment a lot lately. These people never seemed to stay in one place more than a few hours. He looked around at the place ... decided to slip his cloack off, and changed into some minor battle armor, then pulled some dark brown robes out of a compatment and tugged them on. Pulling his white hair back into a long cord. They would likely still recognize him, but he'd blend in better. He moved toward the Hawk.

He spotted them coming toward him, and slipped into a side passage. His mind rapped up in a cloack to avoid detection. No Revan with them, but the ship would be pretty secured. And Revan had already proved he would run if Brax got the advantage. So he followed this group.

"Yeah," Kira said, fighting the slight tug of will wanting to go directly after the Shard, "There's a cantina nearby that we can go to. That is, if it hasn't closed down since I was last here."

~*~*~

"We're in luck," Kira said, as the group approached the single cantina in this sector of the city, "It's still open. And it looks as if the swoop tracks are booming."

Jasra gave Kira a curious look. "I never would have figured you for a race groupie." She flicked her eyes at Atton. "I thought you didn't approve of gambling."

Kira smiled a devilish smile, "Who said I was a groupie?"

"Isn't being a groupie against some Jedi code or something?" asked Tegan, smiling. "I thought Jedi weren't allowed to do that sort of thing?"

"What if I said I was a race jockey, rather than a groupie?" Kira asked, smiling, as she entered the cantina.
"A good racer," Atton said, "I can't count how many times one of her races has filled the holes left in repair and supply debts."
"And I can't count how many times I've had to patch her up after one of her races." Disciple commented, obviously disapproving of the sport.
"Oh, c'mon Disciple, it's just a little fun." Kira answered lightly, walking over to the Selkath bar tender. "A round of Juma, if you wouldn't mind." she said in perfect selkath.

*You know, that's the best I've ever heard a human speak Selkath.* said the Doctor, impressed. *Tell me, how do you perorm the sub-vocalizations?*
(( :xp: ))

"A swoop jockey?" And she speaks Selkath? Kira was sure full of surprises, Jasra thought. "And you raced here? And won? But Manaan is supposed to be one of the toughest tracks in the Galaxy!"

"No, Nar Shadaa was the worst. On that track, not only did you have to avoid obsticals, but you were racing backwards on the track, which was also shared by other swoop riders. Oh, and we had to beat a droid." Kira said, sipping the Juma Juice that had just arrived. Perhaps if she was distracted with the swoops she wouldn't feel such a large tug on her mind from the Shard. The power was hard to ignore...
"I think it's got something to do with the Force." Atton explained to the Doctor, "Some technique she learned from Revan during the Wars."

*Ah. Of course. Where is Revan, anyway?* he asked, looking around. *I thought he was coming with us?*
"I haven't seen him since we left Taris," said Tegan.

Jasra snorted in answer to the Doctor's question regarding Revan's whereabouts. "He's a Jedi. He's 'meditating.' Probably in the turrets like last time. Jedi do that a lot." She cast a quick look at Karda, then just as quickly looked away. "Erm...so, I've been told," she added quickly.

Brax watched them slip into the cantina, a few moments later he ducked in with a small crowd of humans, and selkath. A quick glance around the room spotting them at a table near one wall, he slipped over to his own table, in a palce where he could keep an eye on them. Looking around the place. He hadn't eaten in several days, so decided what the hell, and ordered a bite to eat. He kept his mind active, focusing his invsiiblty just on the small group he was watching. It made it harder, so that if one of them should leave the group, or actively look for him specifically ... it might become a problem.

Revan sat in the turret, in deep meditation.
There is no ignorance......
He received flashes of images. Kira sitting in a cantina, aling with Atton, Disciple, Karda, the Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa.....
there was something else there. He reached out with the Force, willing it to guide his thoughts. He felt the hostile alien mind. He had followed them. Again.
Coming out of the meditation a little faster than his masters would have liked, he jumped down the turret well, ignoring the nausea accompanying the passage through the gravity well. He landed in a crouching position, remove his lightsaber from his belt, and stood, heading for the docking ramp.

"He's been meditating for a while, Revan has had other things on his mind." Karda noticed Jasra give him a brief glance. She then hastily added, "Erm...so, I've been told."

Right, Karda thought, I think you've been more than told. "He'll come out in the city when he feels like he." He added aloud.

(((so, sion, wanna get our charade to meet these guys now? or should we give a great long detail on our journey??)))

((Welcome back, RC! Haven't seen you in here in a while!))

Jasra felt like there were eyes burning a hole in the back of her head. She assumed it might be Karda, but she wasn’t sure. Either way, she didn’t dare to turn to confront him.

Where’s Crystal? she worried. She’d be able to tell me who’s trying to get into my head. Why didn’t she come with us to the cantina? Is there something about waterworlds she doesn’t like? Or maybe I offended her, she thought.

She hoped not. After all, Crystal had taught her a lot. And saved her life. Sure, she looked a lot like her old master now, but she was still Crystal inside. She wouldn’t abandon her, would she? Old fears began to rise.

Feeling uncomfortable, she politely excused herself from the table. “I’m going to go and place a bet,” she said to Kira. “You obviously know the circuit. Any recommendations?”

Crystal entered the cantina slowly, eyes darting one way and then another. She was terribly unhappy to be on Manaan, especially since one of the shards of the Key was here. She felt it jeering at her. It knew she wanted nothing to do with it... she couldn't explain it, but the shard seemed to have its own essence, its own personality. It called seductively to Kira; it mocked and jeered at Crystal.

She heard Jasra's intent to bet on a swoop race and shuddered. What a waste of money! Then again, there was the possibility of Jasra's winning the bet. Crystal sighed. That damn shard had played with more than her physical appearance...

She abruptly sat down next to Karda and began working at ignoring everything and everyone around her.

Jasra relaxed a bit when Crystal sauntered into the cantina. It comforted her to have her near her.

“It feels like someone’s watching me,” she blurted to Crystal through her thoughts. “Or trying to read my thoughts. I’m not sure if it’s Karda. Are you able to…?”

She frowned slightly. She suddenly sensed something was bothering Crystal. Perhaps it was the shard? She flicked her eyes at Kira. Was it affecting Crystal like it was affecting her?

“Everything okay?” she asked Crystal.

"The shard..." Crystal murmured, staring blankly at Jasra. "It affects me exactly the opposite way it does Kira. It calls to her, challenges her to find it, to take it. For me, it laughs, mocking me..." She shuddered.

"Not to mention my last visit to Manaan didn't go so well..." she added with hesitation.

Jasra was a bit worried about Crystal. But she wasn’t certain if this was the appropriate time to ask her more about the shard or about her last visit to Manaan. Well, not now at least. Not in front of the others.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Jasra told Crystal. “Just going to place a bet. Have to try and recoup the loss of my ship somehow. Seeing as Togo didn’t pay me,” she added quietly.

She strolled over to the betting lounge to check out the stats on the jockey’s past performances.

Now if I wasn't a Jedi, that would be a nice occupation thought Karda as he watched the swoop racers. He glanced over at Crystal, who was deep in thought. Now where have I seen that face before? Her new face reminds me of someone.

He thought back, just wondering who it was she reminded him of. A Jedi, most likely. Perhaps Master Kyaran? No, not him. He searched through all the different faces he remembered. More like Master, let me see- Kelva, he thought.

Remembering the time when he had met her briefly, his thoughts wondered to the Jedi Civil War, and the Jedi Purge. Wonder what happened to her? And her padawan?

Brax watched Jasra get up, then pause as Crystal entered, and then move off. It would be hard to include her in his cloack, but he tried ... but he knew it wasn't working right. She would be able to see him if she glanced at him. So he shrugged, and pushed up, and walked toward her. He smirked a bit, and did the opposite of what he had tried at first ... pulling her into his invisiblty, so that the others wouldn't be able to see her very well.

If she realized it was happening she could call out, or something, but she likely wouldn't right away. He moved up behind her int he line to the betting machine. "Long time, Jasra." He said softly, "well, maybe not so long. Don't run, don't scream ... don't alert your friends via whatever private means you have. Just wander over to the table there in the corner that is empty. I want to talk." He moved off, glancing back at her, then taking a seat.

His eyes felt heavy with sleep, tracking Dark Jedi was never easy, but easy wasn't for the Jedi. He was dressed in civilian attire, like the locals and kept his Lightsaber saftely hidden. The heavy, modified blaster, set at a crossdraw attracted the most attention anyway. The rumours he'd recieved about this Clir'ence made his skin crawl. Going more off senstations and unctions of the Force, he had found his prey.

Strangely, the Force pulled his attention elsewhere. He could feel a stiring...then, it happened. A woman just vanished out of thin air. Not something you witness every day. That was unusual...why was the Force still calling to him? There was something important happening here....

(sorry, gotta play Marine, will add more later)

Jasra froze when she heard a hushed voice whisper in her ear. She didn’t have to turn around. The memory of Brax’s voice was very fresh in her mind. Her eyes flicked from side to side. The cantina was crowded. A confrontation here would most likely cause a lot of casualties, especially since most of the sentients in here were unarmed and the Selkath’s laws on weapons were strict. She felt she had no option but to obey him.

She swallowed hard. Quietly, as to not to cause any suspicion to any of the others, she finished placing her bet, then started towards the table that Brax had indicated, just as if she was simply going to watch the race that was about to start.

She frowned slightly as she approached. It was odd that no one seemed to be taking any notice of him. Sure he was wearing inconspicuous clothing and a hooded cloak, but everyone who passed the table seemed to look through him, not at him. Except for her. Strange, she thought. He must be using some form of unusual stealth shield.

She cautiously sat down next to him, her back to Kira and the others, and trying to hide her mounting fear. She couldn’t help but notice the sharp, red claws that softly and rhythmically, tapped on the table. Unconsciously, her hand moved under her cloak to touch the razor-edged slices in her tunic left by her earlier encounter with him. One swipe of those claws and it would all be over for her. But then again, if Brax had just wanted to kill her, he would have done it while she was in the betting line. He was scary, but he wasn’t impulsive. He was purposeful. She knew that from fighting with him. And even though she was afraid, she was also curious. He had said that he had just wanted to talk. She just hoped she wasn't being foolish and he had been lying.

“There are Jedi here,” she quietly stated, in a futile attempt that the knowledge might provide some, if only a little, protection from an attack.

“Yes,” he answered softly, although whether or not his reply was in anticipation of conflict, in acknowledgment of her fear, or merely in simple agreement, she could not tell.

She swallowed, not looking at him directly, but keeping her eyes focused on the swoop track viewing screen. “You wanted to talk to me,” she said bravely, but in a low tone. “So, talk.”

"The circuit's grown bigger since I was last here..." Atton commented, "There're a lot more racers here than I remember..."
"It doesn't seem to me as if any of them are too skilled, though," Disciple answered, "Their times show that much."
However, the whole conversation seemed to be happening miles away for Kira. She sat with her elbows on the table, the heels of her palms digging into her temples, a far-off look in her eyes. The Shard was calling again. She was able to deny it...but it hurt. It physically hurt. Her head pounded in rythem with her beating heart, causing her concentration to waver.
I have to deny it...I have to hold it off for now...
Pathetic girl...you cannot resist my power...
Her head seemed to errupt with fire. She shut her eyes, doing everything she could to resist screaming out. The heels of her palms dug into the sides of her head, as if that could surpress the onslaught of pain...

*Kira, are you alright?* asked the Doctor, moving towards her. *You look ill. It looks as if the Shard's power is greater than I thought,* he said. *I fear that it's power will destroy her if we don't find it soon.*

"Damn it!" Kira said, her fist slamming down on the table, "I'm fine! It's a stupid shard, I can handle it!"
Her eyes were still forced shut as visions flew through her mind's eye; swirling water, silver machinery, dark shapes moving through what appeared to be walls of water...
It's begging me to come find it... she thought, And it's showing me where to look.

*I'm sorry, Kira,* said the Doctor calmly. *I'm worried about you. We all are,* he continued.

Kira stood quickly, angry at herself. "I know," she said between clenched teeth, "But there is nothing you can do for me. The Shard is my responsibility and I have to deal with it. Alone."
And with that, she left the cantina, returning to the Hawk.
I need to think this out, she thought, I need to meditate.
Another wave of power from the shard came over her, pain coming blasting after it. Why is it able to do this to me?? It shouldn't be this strong, it shouldn't have such control over me!

*Perhaps someone should go with her,* suggested the Doctor. *She may not be safe on her own.*