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The Firespray Black Heart sat awaiting him in the hanger bay. Salem strode purposefully toward it and spotted Siala lounging near the boarding ramp.
No smiles for his beautiful apprentice, not today. His face was etched in a grim determination as he came to a stop before her.

She made to speak and he held up a hand and shook his head. "If we don't come back, don't try to find us. Forget us, you hear me.." The words fell like hammer blows on her but she recovered well.

"Your arrogance astonishes me, what makes you think i won't be glad to see the back of you?" She said crossing her arms across her chest.

He gave a smile that would have melted a thousand hearts five years ago but the scars, the stress lines, the pale colour of his skin that told of sleepless nights and bad habits looked more forlorn, like a man who knows this is the last time anyone will see him and he wants that last memory to be of a smile.
"The eyes don't lie." With that he stepped past her and hesitated mid-step like he had something to say and then carried on.

Siala watched the ship lift off, a feeling of dread gripping her heart in ebony claws. He'd be back she told herself. He has to come back, i need him, my training isn't complete. I need him....

The ship blasted out of the hanger and into space, the course laid in he made for the jump point. Whoever had taken Nik was in for a very big shock, they had no idea what kind of hell was coming there way. He'd burn up the entire Galaxy to find them, boil every sea, detonate every sun to make sure they paid...

Yes, the Darkside was with him, it was what he needed for the events to come. Strom wouldn't be able to do the things he would have to, Salem wouldn't, but Omega would. Yes they'd see why he was locked in carbonite, see the terror he could inflict.

The ship slipped into hyperpsace, little more than a speck in the black but a speck with a purpose, a resolve that wouldn't be shifted off its course.

The ship burst from hyperspace and engaged its sublight engines. His sensors only picked up one ship in the system, the FOF recognized the ship as Jay's and he set a heading toward him.

"Looks like you made good time." Came Jays message.

"One of the techs got some cords off a Jedi once, shaved off more than a few parsecs." He replied as they came level. "What do you know?"

The information came over as Jay finished speaking, Salem inserted a data slate and downloaded it onto that before turning back to the Comm and the face of Mertaal on the tiny screen. He had a point, the Black Heart though upgraded substantially was slower than Mertaal's ship but it was better armed...a tough choice. He chose speed, better to get there quickly and sniff out the trail before anything happened to Nik.

"I'll be over in a second, just gimmie a minute to grab my gear." He pocketed the data slate, he'd play catch up on the voyage and then powered down all but life support, everything went black and then red as emergency lighting came on. He descended to the hold and pulled a trap off of a pair of black foot lockers.
He opened the leftmost locker and inside were various weapons housed in a three tier case that unfolded with a mechanical grind when the lid opened.. Rifles and pistols, both slug and laser based, along with grenades and missile launchers all lay neatly on the three shelves. He chose a Flechette Rifle and Missile Launcher, which were slung over his shoulders and a Mer'Sonn Blaster Pistol which he holstered on the opposite side of his saber. As an after thought he took out a vibroknife and slid it into a panel on his Mandalorian armors thigh plating. He slid on his helmet and pressing a small button on the left side of his helmet he magnetically sealed it. He checked the meagre air supply in the HUD of his helm and then depressurized the hold and opened a hatch. The feeling of weightlessness was surreal as he clambered outside but the silence was worse, only his ragged breathing a comfort in the vacuum of space.

Jay had positioned his ship above and it only took a push and he was gently floating toward the open hatch. He got aboard without much effort and when the room had been re-pressurized he slid off the helmet and swiped at the sweat that had formed on hos brow. He made a very serious mental note never to do that again, ever.

"Fancy a kick in the baby maker?" He growled in response and unshouldered his weaponry, laying both against the bulkhead. "I don't like leaving my ship dead in space Jay so get us out of here so i can blow whoever took Nik to any hell of their choosing and come back for my baby." He finished.

The ship lurched forward and Salem found himself sprawled on the floor in a very undignified manner. He picked himself up and feeling the dull pounding from the back of his head wished he'd kept his helmet on just that little bit longer. The ship was steady now, in fact if it weren't for the rhythmic vibrations of the hyperdrive engine you might have even thought it was moving at all.
He moved his way into the cockpit and slumped himself in a seat behind jay and to the right, sensor station by the looks of the console. Normally he'd just dump himself in the Co-pilots seat but this wasn't his ship, Jay was the Captain and it was at his discretion who became his right hand.

"Thanks for the warning..." He muttered rubbing the back of his head.

Was this an obvious snub from Mertaal? Salem pondered it for less than a second and decided he didn't really care, he wouldn't have taken the drink in the first place, he wanted a clear head. He wanted to be fully in control as he did what had to be done and that would take him right to the very edge of the abyss. His only concern with this was that Jay would see, he'd see what creature truly lurked beneath the smile and the facade.

He stood from his seat the joints of his armor creaking. "If its okay with you Cap i think i'll commandeer one of the sleeping quareters, i need to get myself in the right frame of mind."

Tensions were high between the pair. It didn't take an empath to figure that out. Salem was strung out, he had been for days. Although jay had found the information he himself had spent the better part of a fortnight in contact with unsavoury sorts across the Galaxy. To many sleepless nights, to much stress and worry. He didn't know what was eating Jay and didn't think he'd find out.

He didn't respond, just made his way to the designated quarters. The air in the cockpit had been frozen over, as cold went Jay was subzero right now so it was good to get away from it. In his agitated state it was worse, harder to focus, to block out the rogue emotions that coloured the air across the Galaxy. The last thing he needed was to be overwhelmed by them and lose the plot. Stay focused, harness the anger he felt towards those that held his friend, channel the worry but under no circumstances allow it to over power you, keep it under control.

He told himself this over and over as he sat on the floor, his back propped up against the wall of his quarters, left arm draped across a bended knee. In his other hand was a Cigarra, his eyes were unfocused staring at the metal flooring. One thing he learned about meditation was that it mattered little what position the body was in, or what it was doing. It was where your mind was that truly mattered. If you couldn't focus the mind to a razor sharp edge while the body did whatever you wanted it to then you were truly a novice. Find a point of calm amongst the chaos, both internal and external. This he had learned through his many trials. This applied even more so when dealing with the Darkside. If you didn't find that point of calm amongst the strength and power of your own emotions you became swept up in them, lost amongst your own feelings. Something the Sith had yet to realise he'd wager.

If asked to describe the Force as he or any Force User saw it he would flounder. He figured this was why most text was cryptic and generally vague. The best way he could describe it was like looking at the most magnificent sunrise through a pin hole. You only ever saw a very tiny part of the brilliance.
The air took on a static edge as he brought his mind closer and closer in tune with the Force, waves of the brilliant energy field crashing around him like the waters of Dac on a stormy night. He'd found his quiet place, the calm, and so he was at the eye of the storm and at the same time we was the storm. The vortex ripping its way unseen throughout the ship. Filling his mind with the sensations and feelings of the ship. There was Jay still in the cockpit,still smoking on a deathstick, still drinking. Calm, almost blank as emotions went.

He felt it suddenly, his body lifting off the floor, felt the heat as the ember from his Cigarra ignited and the cascading flame wound its way around him, controlled and yet untamed as only fire could be. A chair rotated slowly in the air, the locked door ratted in its frame. The Force seeped through every pore, perforated every muscle, he felt the worry wash away and his mind focus. He hadn't been focused for a long time. Hadn't been able to concentrate. So much regret over a life wasted that he'd forgotten the thrill of simply wielding the Force, felt almost ashamed of it if he were honest.

As quickly as the Maelstrom started it subsides, the flame dissipated, the chair clattered to the ground, the door ceased its quiver and he landed on one knee, Cigarra stuck firmly in his mouth. His eyes held a new determination, he knew the end goal, knew what he HAD to do. No point denying his nature, no point blaming his life's path on the Darkside or the Lightside or whatever pigeon hole the unenlightened such as himself tried to jam the Force into.
He stood upright and opened the door, it gave a shuddering creak. He;d broken something in the mechanisms, that was evident.

He came up behind Jay and watched for a moment, leaning a shoulder against the cockpit door frame and then finally spoke. "Air your troubles mate...its a long trip and it would be a whole lot easier if we weren't chucking icebergs at one another" He said.

A lie of course, there was tension between them but whether a small wrong had been magnified by frayed nerves would remain unknown. Jay wanted the subject closed and so Sal wouldn't push it any further and Jay had a point. Norongachi caught the datapad and sat down in the offered seat, a good sign he felt. The Cigarra took him more by surprise, not that it caught him off guard, it was perhaps an unspoken peace offering, then again he could have been reading into it to much.

The Force ignited on the end of the Cigarra and just as quickly extinguished, he took a long drag and let the poison fill his lungs as he half read the datapad and half listened to Jay speak. "I can't wait to meet him." He responded but there was no warmth in his voice, he continued to scroll down the green text and exhaled as Jay continued to speak and then with a raised eyebrow looked up. "You did better than me, i pulled every parasite i knew from as far back as my Vice Prex days and they couldn't find a thing." He gave a long sigh that spread a trail of smoke across the transparasteel. "I fully realise that mate, maybe its my cynical nature but I've already come to terms with the fact he may already be dead. If he is revert to my secondary objective, which i don't expect you to aid me with. In fact i urge you not to.." He leaned his head back against the head rest and looked up at the cockpit ceiling, at the lights and dials in handy reach of pilot and co-pilot. "If he's dead when i find them, and i will find them, i won't stop until there's blood, either mines or thiers...nobody takes a shot at my friends.." He said in to calm a voice and then with a chuckle added. "I have to few to lose even one."

Salem straightened up at the sound of free falling liquid against glass and gave a smile. He could already smell the aroma from the glass and it made his mouth water. He took a small sip and let the liquid play across his tongue and smiled when Jay finished speaking.

"I've known since Hoth you were hard to read, i knew above Etti IV." He looked at Jay with a cocky smile. "I wasn't trying to read your mind, just gauge your mood, but you have strong defenses. Who taught you?" He finished and took another drink from his glass.

Salem gave the liquid a lazy swirl around the glass and took another drag on his ciggara. He didn't know any of those names but then again that wasn't unusual, the Force Users he'd had dealings with tended to be inconspicuous at best.

"Yeah will power counts for a lot, knowing your own mind is also a big part of it." Smoke came out in wisps with each word spoken and he expelled the last dregs before draining the last of his drink. "Its like the mind trick, if you know your own mind, know every thought you would ever think no Jedi or Sith could make you believe what they want you to because the implanted thoughts would be alien, you'd know this." He took a quick draw from his cigarra and pushed on. "Its more difficult to explain with emotions in fact quite a lot of it is hard to explain to people not attuned to the Force, its the reason ninety percent of the texts you find related to the Force are vague and cryptic. For us its like feelings, sensations and instinct. Ever tried to explain to someone why you just KNEW something was a bad idea?" he gave a chuckle. "Its like that really."

The hyperspace field outside drew his eye again. He thought of being a teacher, of how many students he'd lost over the years. He was arrogant back then, he'd thought himself a Master of the Force but that wasn't the case, would NEVER be the case. He would forever be a student, every day, every second he found out just that little bit more about it.

Seven days they had been hurtling through the light tunnel and every moment of it Sal had been keenly aware that more time was being lost for Nik. Jay had obviously picked up on this and done his best to distract Norongachi, Sabbac and banter lead way to in depth discussions of Politics while carefully skirting round the CSA side of such matters.

The effort was appreciated but he knew that the more time Nik spent in his captors hands the more likely he was already dead. He was glad when hyperspace broke before them, it meant that they had made a little more progress on their road to recovering the Admiral and brining him back to his people. That had been another headache, covering up the kidnapping. He couldn't tell these hot blooded and fiercely loyal Pirates that an unknown force had snatched their leader. They'd all have jumped in their ships and set off to find him, which would have been very bad for business. As far as the Cutthroats knew Straven was on a deep core raid and wouldn't be back for another two months.

Salem spared no interest in the brilliant display of galactic wonder outside the viewport and simply nodded at Jay and began the preparations. His gear was already waiting for him, weapons of varying degree's of killing power leaning neatly against the bulkhead.
He picked each up and checked their power packs and ammo, satisfied, he laid them back down and picking up a black backpack he gathered what he reckoned they would need.