NationStates Jolt Archive

The past four weeks had seemed to take forever for the five guards that were reassigned from providing security for Centennial Plaza, the Northrop-Grumman capital building, to protecting the Anagonian President, Drakomis Reign. Traveling to the Anagonian homeworld had been the easiest thing to do. The cloaking devices on the Order’s shuttlecraft worked remarkably well. But the most difficult task so far had been to sneak close enough to Drakomis to help him in case of an emergency but yet far enough so that he could not sense their presence even though they were cloaked.

On this particular night, the guards were keeping watch over Drakomis’ cabin from up in some of the tallest trees nearby. They actually liked this assignment because it was much better than the crowded urban areas of Caprica City. It was easier to watch over one person when the area was not flowing with thousands of people. Also, the view of the Mountains of Novar was quite beautiful from the height that they were sitting.

The leader of the group yawned inside of his armor. It was another quiet night, but then with his infrared vision, he noticed several heat signatures slowly coming up the side of the mountain.

He called to his subordinates who were in various areas around the cabin. “I think we may have company. Eggleston, keep an eye on the front door, and if he finds out, you know what to do.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied as he merely stepped off of the thirty-foot branch that he was on and landed with his feet on the ground, unhurt. The hydraulic supports in his armor took the force of nearly five hundred pounds of metal slamming into the ground. He slowly moved towards the cabin’s porch and turned on the zat'ni'katel in his hand.

Meanwhile, fully cloaked, the leader of the group led the other two guards around the cabin to figure out who or what was coming this way. They powered up their zat’ni’katels and peered through the viewscreen in their helmets. Instead of infrared, the screen was switched over to night vision and they could see who it was quite clearly. Seven men in camouflage were heading their way carrying projectile based weaponry.

The guards surrounded the enemy force and began firing with their zat’ni’katels. Three men fell first, completely unconscious. The others dropped to the ground and began firing in the directions the shots came from. One of the guards was hit several times by bullets but the armoring that he had on protected him quite well against that particular size of bullet. The guards continued firing on the men, successfully knocking them out.

Back at the cabin, Eggleston carefully looked though a window. “Damnit,” he cursed when he saw that Drakomis had awaken and was watching everything happening out in the forest. Now, the President knew that he had people watching over him. Eggleston rammed himself right through the wooden door to the surprise of Drakomis and fired the zat’ni’katel at him. The first shot missed when Drakomis dived and he fired again, this time getting a direct hit, rendering Drakomis unconscious.

Eggleston spoke to his leader through the microphone built into the helmet. “The President knows now. I am taking him back to HQ.”

An aggravated reply came back. “Very well. Let’s hope he doesn’t get too nasty to the Overlord.”

Eggleston chuckled and slapped a button which immediately teleported him and Drakomis aboard a cloaked shuttle.

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Drakomis’ unconscious body was taken back to Earth where he was laid in a dark, damp stone cell in the underground base of the Order of the Bloodied Sky. He was there not because he was a prisoner but because he was not allowed to be wondering around very sensitive areas. It was for his protection and the protection of the Order. A guard was assigned to watch over him and wait for him to awaken which would be very soon.

...Therefore hast thou seen the two things of your demise...

Explosions...

...Remember that which you are...

Lights...

...Never sleep towards the blazing fire...

Sounds...

...Always begin to meditate towards your present...

Visions....

...And your future, young Jeedai...

Drakomis eyes went open, and he sat up quickly. His visions were harsh, his future was shown to him. He saw Melkos, he saw his past self, he saw everything. Something was happening to him, and he didn't know what. But what he did know, was that being where he was at, was ment to be for his future.

Where was he anyways?

He looked around, confused. The last thing he remember was meditation, then sleep. He thought H esaw a fight out of his cabin, but that was a dream too.

Or was it?

"Hello? Where am I?"

The lone guard heard rustling inside of the cell and peered through the old grey iron bars on the door. He saw that Drakomis had awaked so he shoved the heavy iron door open and stood in the doorway.

When he spoke from behind the closed helmet, his voice sounded kind and was the complete opposite of his black medieval styled power armor. “President Reign, I see that you have awakened. Firstly, I would like to apologize for the cell. We typically do not have guests here that are not under arrest for some crime. Also, we took the liberty of removing your weapons. It was more for your protection than ours. Those that reside here are very uncomfortable with strange people running around weapons.”

"I see," he stood up, tail sliding from the floor as he whipped some of the dirt off of him. "I suppose my back pain accounts for anything?"

With a twist, a loud crack was heard, and a pleasing sigh as he moved his upper body from side to side, twisting, then cracking his tail and legs and arms.

After a few minutes of this, he yawned, then looks at the guard. "Mind telling me why I'm here? I don't need any weapon to escape, I am a weapon."

“Apparently, the Overlord wishes to speak with you. About what? I am not entirely sure, but I hear that it has to do with the attack on your cabin a few hours ago. Now if you will go right this way.” He stepped aside away from the doorway and motioned with his right hand.

Suprised by his answer, he nodded and started to follow the guards hand motion. It wasn;t enough to realize that the attack wasn't a dream, no, it was enough to learn that some OVERLORD wanted his attention. Oh, that brought back memories. Did his nemesis survive? How could he?

His emotions started to grow stronger, hissing a bit as he pased the guard, tail thumping the guards chest plate in a show of frustration. He hissed to himself softly.

"If you are alive, Overlord Imperius, you will die again..."

He clenched his clawed hands, palm starting to bleed.

The guard noticed the way Drakomis had acted and wondered what it was about. He shrugged it off thinking it was really none of his business to know these things and followed Drakomis out of the room.

The hallway that they walked into was quite long and had a castle look and feel to it with solid dark grey stone walls and floors and torches providing the only light. The guard motioned that Drakomis should go to the left and began walking right beside him. “A word of advice. I highly suggest you calm down before you go in. The Overlord does not tolerate that kind of an attitude.”

A memory of his past flashed in his mind, and suddenly, before the guard knew it, his neck was being choked by an unknown force. Drakomis' clawed hand was clenched, as if he had grabbed a throat, growling as he faced the Guard.

"Do NOT tell me what to DO!" He hissed, and Force Pushed him against the wall. Not in a deadly move, but just to show who's boss.

With a growling hiss, his tail slapped the floor, and he continued down the hall.

The guard clutched the armor around his neck as he was being choked and gasped for breath. He did not understand how anyone could have gotten through the inch of armor, but that was not important at the moment. He just wanted it to stop.

“Leh…me…go,” he gasped.

Then, he was thrust against the wall greatly adding to his worries. He never really had to put up with this with the people that were usually brought here. They were almost always unconscious or so fearful that they were unwilling to fight back. Finally, Drakomis released him, and he fell to the floor coughing.

“Damn,” he mumbled. “Give someone advice and they nearly kill ya.”

After getting his breathing rhythm back, he got up off of the floor and followed Drakomis from a safe distance. He really did not want to provoke another reaction again.

Several minutes later, he saw the correct door that he was to lead Drakomis to and stopped him, but his voice was still a little rough. “This is it.”

He pushed the two ten foot high iron doors with all of his might. They squeaked loudly as they slowly moved open and revealed a pitch-black room. He motioned for Drakomis to go in, and when he did, he quickly slammed the doors shut.

Drakomis felt bad about doing that to the Guard, but before he could apologize, he walked into the dark room. Once the doors shut, he knew he had other matters on his mind. He looked around in the darkness, tail swaying as it hovered just above any ground below. He hissed gently to himself, but he didn't sense any present danger.

He growled to himself, perhaps he would die truthfully again. Darkness was his ally, seclusion a greater ally. However, being more Jedi than Sith, he enjoyed the comfort of presence, of light. This time, however, he allowed himself to calm, and he stood there, waiting.

No force tricks this time, he would wait truthfully. This time, he would be normal in his affairs.

Sighing, he spoke to himself softly. "Expect the unexpected, yet always embrace the sword." He nodded, assured now, and waited.

Resonating throughout the darkness of the room was one thing, metal hitting repeatedly against stone. It continued to get louder as whatever it was neared Drakomis. Suddenly, four iron chandeliers that hung from the ceiling and all the torches along the walls simultaneous burst forth flames. The once dark room was now revealed to be a great stone hall with an enormous vaulted ceiling. Long red banners hung over what appeared to be stained glass windows and along the walls, racks upon racks of various weapons rested. Everything from axes to plasma rifles hung in full view. The centerpiece of the room was a large round stone table with three regular chairs on either side of a large raised stone throne.

None of this compared to what was standing before Drakomis. A nine-foot tall black figure looked down on him with its red eyes glowing. Spines covered its ornately designed power armor but were the longest on its helmet, lower arms, and shoulders. It continued to eye Drakomis as it rested its gloved hand on the five foot long naquadah longsword hanging from its waist.

A metallic sounding robotic voice pierced the silence of the room and echoed throughout it. “Good evening, Drakomis Nokomis Reign. We finally meet at last.”

Drakomis looked in awe at the complexity of the room as he observed it, finally resting his eyes on the intimidating figure before him. It was enough to make Drakomis step back, its sudden voice, robotic in nature, shocking him severely as he jumped back a bit.

What was this feeling, what was this emersing want to run. Why did he shiver, why did he shake?

Then, it hit him, he was afraid, he feared. For the first time in centuries, he feared something like he feared a figure like he feared the Overlord Imperius. in fact, he felt this could be his ressurected form. That is what made him....severely afraid...

He stumbled, and fell down, looking back with an open maw, afraid...so afraid of his past coming back to haunt him, to devour him, to kill him again....He felt so strongly that this was Imperius.

The Overlord carefully eyed Drakomis as it slowly circled around him. The sound of its metal boots hitting stone could be heard along with the whining of the gears, hydraulics, and other machinery moving in its legs. As it walked, it noted that this was not the first time that others have fell to the floor before it in fear. Though this time, the person at his feet did not fear the Overlord for what it was, but instead, for what he thought it was.

It spoke again, but this time the voice was more forceful. “I am NOT the one who murdered you and your family in cold blood. I protect the innocent and punish the guilty. I am the Overlord of the Order of the Bloodied Sky, the Guardian of the Corporation.”

Drakomis stood slowly, keeping an eye on the Overlord before him. He hurfed, whipping dirt off his Jedi Robe. He had just cleaned it, and now it was dirty again. Oh well, at least no blood was shed, or at least oil from the look of this mechanical beast.

Standing, tail sliding from the floor as his rough scales made sounds like sand-paper on concrete, his claws tapped the floor as he stood erect, a fulkl seven feet three inches. Now he was interested, the primal fear gone. He didn't know why he feared, but he did. Somehow, Imperius had a reign over him still....and that wasn't good.

Shaking his head a bit, he concentrated on the now. "Tell me, Overlord, why such a mechanical beast like you would take interest in me?"

The Overlord’s voice was now quieter and did not reverberate throughout the hall as it did before. “Ever since you stepped aboard the NGSS Transversa, I have been watching and waiting for years to see what would become of the alliance between the Galactic Republic and the Corporation. I have observed that the alliance has become quite beneficial to both nations and that the Galactic Republic is one of the closest allies that the Corporation has had in its hundred year history. And I believe that it is in the best interests of both nations that you remain alive that was why I assigned my forces to protect you in case of a terrorist attack or other such life threatening occurrence. The firefight that you witnessed from of your window was one of such occurrences.”

"I see."

Drakomis crossed his arms now, tail swaying as he thought over what the Overlord had said. His life was beneficial, the alliance was too. This was an interesting, and highly amusing, development. A foreign power protected Drakomis from harm, just because he was beneficial.

Well, he wanted to make an impression, but this was just outright flattery, or so Drakomis thought. He chuckled to himself, almost a giggle, as he thought over the implacations.

How amusing, it almost made his heart warm. Well, actually, his heart did warm from this "touching" revelation. Though he know he shouldn't be touched.

"So I suppose I was to be assisinated, hmm? Or perhaps it was my personal Guard?" He chuckled to himself, "You know, you really know how to flatter a lizard."

The Overlord ignored the accusation of flattery and just replied to Drakomis’ questions. “The first part of the interrogation process for the five remaining prisoners has revealed that their sole intention was your assassination. But, at this time, I have been unable to determine their identities and who they were working for. Though, with the appropriate techniques, they will reveal all they know.”

Drakomis nodded, "Interesting. This hasn't happened for quite some time."

Thinking back, it had been some time since someone last aimed their fury towards him. Perhaps it was because of the current situation Anagonia was in? Some people saw Drakomis as a dictator, but he was rightfully elected. Perhaps this was one such peoples.

"Anything else I need to know?"

The Overlord slowly unhooked the five foot long naquadah longsword off of its waist and held it up to examine the grey blade’s sharpness. After a few moments, it lowered the sword and pointed the tip at the ground.

“Just a reminder is all. You should strive to be more careful in the future, especially on where you sleep. An unguarded log cabin is not the wisest location to reside in. Had my forces not been there watching, you most surely would have been killed.”

Drakomis chuckled, "I appriciate your protection, Overlord of the Bloodied Sky. Perhaps I was saved by fate, or the Force. Only time will tell, but I do thank you, and I will take your advice."

Something in his voice signaled that he wasn't all on the Overlords side, however he was listening. A good sign for any plans.

“You are quite welcome.” The Overlord partially bowed its head to be courteous. Then, instead of continuing the conversation, it pivoted and walked over to a long bare stone wall nearby. It paused for a moment as if in thought but then its free hand rose up and pulled the lit torch down.

Clanking of chains could be heard as the wall slowly slid away to reveal another much smaller room. In the center of the room were the five prisoners strapped to a unique combination of stone and wood that had been brought together to form a chair. They remained perfectly quiet as they sat wide-eyed in the presence of the Overlord.

Now, this room looked like just any other interrogation room except when you stepped inside. When you entered, there were shelves lining the walls carrying the typical things that you would find in a carpenter’s workshop such as high-powered drills, saws, sledgehammers, axes, and various other kinds of hardware, but there was much more than that in there. Salt, flamethrowers, a high-pressure water pump with attached nozzle, an old rusted control panel with numerous levers, and other items also resided there.

The Overlord then turned back to Drakomis. “These are the ones who wanted to assassinate you.”

Drakomies hissed at each one of them, then looked at the various devices and things used. With a glance he began to get a dark idea of how he could gather intelligence with each device, however something insid ehime refused him to take that path. Of course, he would sigh, and concentrate on other methods, looking at one of the assasins.

"Have they talked yet?" the question was aimed to the Overlord.

“No,” the Overlord stated. “They have not yet revealed anything beyond their intentions, but that is unfortunate for them, not me.”

It stood before the prisoners and turned its head to the left and then to the right as if it was searching for something. What it was exactly, no one could tell. Then, the Overlord stepped directly in front of one of the prisoners, a brown-haired young man around the age of twenty-five. One thing that could easily noticed was that the man’s legs were full of oozing third degree burns, apparently from the previous stage of interrogation.

He was then asked a question, “Why were you trying to assassinate President Reign?”

The man refused to answer and just stared. In the Order’s typical interrogation process, when one did not answer, they were punished. After making a sound akin to a sigh, the Overlord reached over to the shelf and picked up the metal canister of salt. It then poured the salt on the man’s legs, causing him to scream out in severe pain and squirm around in his chair. The other prisoners jerked back in fear.

The Overlord then leaned over to the man and asked the question forcefully. “Now, why were you trying to assassinate President Reign?”

Just then, another man, who looked to be the youngest of the group, yelled out. “Don’t hurt him. I’ll tell you. The President was to be assassinated so that a different government…uh…..an….emperor could be installed in his place. That is the only way it could work.”

The Overlord rose back up and turned to the other man. “I see someone is intelligent enough to answer my question.”

After resting its sword against the stone wall, the Overlord returned to the main hall, picked up a grey rifle off of the rack, one of the weapons that the assassins were to have used, and walked back with it while taking the magazine out.

“Interesting weapon. Walther G22 semi-automatic rifle, twenty-two caliber, ten rounds, twenty inch barrel, six-point-one pounds.”

The Overlord reinserted the magazine back into the bottom of the rifle and aimed it, using only one arm, at the man who had refused to speak. It pulled the trigger and the weapon fired three short bursts. The bullets penetrated the man's chest in the exact same place and tore through his heart, thus instantly killing him.

“An effective weapon, also.”

Drakomis watched the man be killed, and looked away with a sigh. The weapon was very advanced, and very accurate. Looking back at the two remaining ones, minds raced through his head on how to deal with them, and save them from this painful torture. Sure, they tried to kill him, but he was a forgiving person. More Jedi than Sith, it was his excuse.

Rubbing the tip of his snout, where his nostrils where. Snorting, he looked to the Overlord. "Let me have some private time with these dark ones, I'll grab some information."

The Overlord was preparing to interrogate the next prisoner when Drakomis spoke. It paused for a moment as it thought then it replied, “Very well. Interrogate them using your own methods.”

It stepped back from the four remaining prisoners and gestured for Drakomis to go ahead.

>::BUMP::<

Drakomis bowed his head to the robotic Overlord, then looked to one of the prisoners and stood before him. Gazing down on him, he would look deep into his eyes quickly, then wave his hand in a similar jesture to a mind-trick, but this went far deeper.

If the prisoners mind was weak, he would expose the details needed for Drakomis to...not engage in harmful manners of interrigation.

Waving his hand, and using a deep Force method, he probed the mind of the prisoner. "Tell me, why am I important?"

The prisoner, for some reason that was unknown to him, felt compelled to answer Drakomis.

“It is believed that you are the one who holds the Galactic Republic together and prevents anyone else from conquering it successfully. If you were to suddenly die, then the chaos that would ensue would make the current government an easy target for our forces to remove. We could then install a strong executive government in its place and proceed to restore order to the new empire.”

The Overlord observed this scene carefully. It was fairly surprised that Drakomis could get information of out the prisoner that quickly, but it knew that no matter what happened the prisoners were going to die anyway.

Drakomis nodded and sighed, rubbing his snout and chin carefully. With a slight chitter sound he looked to the other Prisoner, carefully acknowledging his wounds, then back to the one that told him the information. He wasn't the type to just kill people for trying to kill him, even though it would have been the right thing to do.

As always, he had a plan for these two. Mainly the reason why he wanted them to live, but the other part was because he knew that spareing them could bring results. With a slight sigh he looked at the two.

"I'll let you live, but under one condition," raising a finger and being silent for a moment, "that you serve me and assist me." He grinned, "Otherwise the Robotic menace over here will have its way with you, and kill you both."

The two prisoners watched Drakomis while he spoke. They then turned their heads over towards the Overlord. It stood off to the side of the room with the rifle in its hand, ready to execute them if they did not agree to Drakomis’ terms. It took this stance to give the prisoners a look as to what would happen if they did not choose wisely.

They looked at one another briefly before they answered. “Ye…yes…we’ll…go with you.”

One of the prisoners, apparently one of the more vocal ones, near the other end of the row shouted, “TRAITOR! What the hell do you think you’re doing!? Siding with the enemy?!”

The Overlord brought the rifle up and commanded, “Silence!”

“You have no right to have us in here,” he shouted at the Overlord. “This is an Anagonian matter. It has nothing to do…”

The Overlord fired the rifle. The bullet hit his leg, ripping a two-inch wide hole in it and severing an artery. The man did not finish his sentence and screamed out in pain.

“Now,” the Overlord growled. “Follow my orders or I shall aim higher.”

Drakomis gave a glance to the one who was shot at, then noted the one with the burnt leg. This was an interesting situation, which could be made more beneficial for the long-term plans he had in mind. With a reptilian smirk, his tounge coming out and forking as it whiped his snout in the smirk, he looked back at the two who had agreed to his....pledge.

"I'll place it on your shoulders," he pointed a clawed finger to his new followers, "that if you should succeed, these two will survive."

He lowered his finger, then tapped it against his reptilian throat. "If you serve me well, I would even consider sparing your lives." He chuckled evily, "But first is what I have in store for you, since you tried to take my life. It would be only proper that I would send you to gather information about your leadership, if you don't already know."

He went quiet for a moment, then hissed at them silently. "Of courssse...there isss the proposition of bringing me to your leaderssss...but thatsss for another time."

The two prisoners quietly nodded. They knew that both options had the possibility of their death, but one would definitely be a slow brutal death by the hands of the Overlord while the other, if it was ever discovered who they were working for, would very likely be a quick death from a rifle. The other prisoner with the gunshot in his leg glanced over at the two and did not say anything for he was in too much agony with the pain and for him the room appeared to be spinning because of the loss of blood. The last prisoner just continued to stare forward in a trance. He was not in any physical pain but something was obviously done to him emotionally or mentally to cause him to remain like that.

Meanwhile, the Overlord observed everything before it carefully and at first did not really care for the direction this was going. It believed that these men should be executed for their crimes, but then, it realized that they could be used to find others who were guilty of plotting the exact same thing. Nevertheless, it still held the rifle in its hands to make sure that no one else would speak out of turn. If any one of them did, then they would have to meet the consequences.

The Overlord turned its head partially towards Drakomis. “President Reign, what will you have me to do with these men now?”

Drakomis looked back to the Overlord, stepping a few paces to meet its side. He crossed his hand, tail thumping the floor as he looked back and thought. He knew a portion of the thought process of a robotic entity, but of course, with any sentient being, such as this one showed, it would be unusual. Shaking his head slightly out of the thought, which could ultimatley lead to unecessary questionings, he looked back at the Overlord.

"I suppose you should watch over the two that stay here, give them medical attention." He waved a clawed hand to the other two, "Send them on their way to find my killers, I really want to talk to them."

He sighed, "Oh, and make sure they are well equipped, I know how people like to make sure they fail."

Just as Drakomis had finished speaking, the Overlord’s eyes dimmed for several moments then returned to normal.

“I have just given the orders to my subordinates, and it will be done as you asked. The two prisoners who will remain here will be well taken care of during their stay, but they will be given only what they need, nothing more. The other two will be given their old clothes and equipment back, and after being rendered unconscious for security reasons, they will be left a short distance away from your cabin.”

The Overlord stepped over to the lit torch that it had earlier pulled down and pushed it back up while resting the rifle back in its appropriate holder. The wall rumbled and chains rattled as it slowly slid back into place hiding the interrogation room and the prisoners once again. The Overlord briefly looked over at Drakomis then walked towards its raised stone throne with its boots clanking against the floor. It spoke briefly as it passed right by Drakomis and rested its metal body down in the throne.

“You may or may not know but this is the very first time that any prisoner has left these walls without being dead or dismembered. I would prefer that it not become commonplace.”

With only wave of its hand, a chair slid across the floor and came to rest directly in front of the stone throne and table. The Overlord spoke again.

“Sit.”

Drakomis chuckled under his breath at the Overlords comments, then went and sat down as asked. His plan would work, he knew it. But in the end he had bigger matters to attend to. For one, this little conversation with the Overlord, and what it was.

He settled in, preparing for a long talk. "Yes?"

The Overlord sat back in its throne and asked, “How do you know that the prisoners will do what you ask? They may return to their leaders, tell them exactly what has happened here, and not do as you say. There is also a possibility that they could not care for their brethren and would let them perish by my hands. How can you be certain that everything will go according to your plan?”

"I know because I made them know, I didn't use any Jedi powers either." He winked. "Of course, i doubt you know what that is, but that's beside the point."

He rubbed his scaly arm for a moment, yawning. "I know they will serve me, as the others did when their time came. It is a power I know, and such is knowledge for chaos...in this manuver at least."

“I see.” The Overlord tapped its metal fingers against the stone armrest. “Do not doubt my knowledge of things in your world. I am well aware of your Jedi powers for I have witnessed you use the Force numerous times, and I also have seen the power of the Sith in action. Overall, I find the Force to be a fascinating concept.”

"Just like Siri," he sighed a bit and scratched his jaw.

Interesting how one could know so much yet allow such killings. He didn't mind, really. But he figured that if it was a droid, or machine, or android, it would know a lot more. Seeing as that Siri didn't know much about Jedi and Sith, it was just that Drakomis figured more Northropians wouldn't. Now he knew he was wrong.

"Facinating? Well, perhaps, but I'm not really Both...I'm supposed to be in the middle."

“I know all about your balancing of Jedi and Sith, but I have not witnessed you in particular use the powers of the Sith. There are others who specialize in such things.”

It paused for a moment when it decided that clarification was needed.

“You may be wondering how I know all of this. To be brief, everything that my subordinates see, I see. Everything they hear, I hear. I know their thoughts. I know their feelings. I especially know of your encounter with the one who escorted you to my hall.”

Drakomis snorted a bit, "I suppose that you want me to show you my Sith powers?" He churtled, "Bah on you, only if you piss me off enough."

He mumbled the last sentance, ignoreing whatever else the Overlord had said.

Aggravated a little, the Overlord made a low grumbling sound. “No. I am afraid that you did not understand what I had said. I stated that I had never seen you use the powers of the Sith. But I do not need for you to show me for I already know all about them and have repeatedly seen them at work.”

Drakomis nodded a bit and sighed, "Sorry, just.....some past things in that statement."

“I see.” The Overlord nodded its head before it continued. “Over these past several years that I have been protecting the Corporation, I have noticed that Chairman Jack O’Neill and you, Drakomis are alike in several ways. The first thing that comes to mind is that you both hide the events of your past and let them govern every aspect of your lives without anyone ever knowing. Those around you both tend to suffer because of this. I have also noticed that you both fear that those events will reoccur again but yet do nothing.”

It paused as it realized that it had never had conversations like this with anyone. The most that the Overlord had ever spoken was during interrogations but that was not the same.

“On the other hand, Chairwoman Siri O’Neill does fear many things, but the past is not one of them. For her, the uncertainty of the future is one of her greatest fears, and she is not like you and the Chairman because she seeks to mold the future into something that is more acceptable to her and those who she loves.”

"You speak the truth, but in my opinion your obsessed with Siri's way of life." He crossed his reptilian legs, tail sliding off to rest on the rock floor. "I have my reasons for my ways, and I do make up for my lack of Offensiveness."

He looked down, then back at the mechanical beast. "Its my opinion that my rulings have bettered me, but I still fear. I fear because I was used, and thats all I can say on that matter."

The winding of gears could be heard as its hands gripped the arms of the throne tighter. “I am not obsessed with her or her way of life. I was merely relating an observation that I had made, nothing else.

It then leaned forward a bit and stared the bright red eyes at Drakomis. “You obviously have something against her, don’t you? What is it?”

"She's turned, different, something else. I've sensed her after...after something that happened on our little diplomatic scene." He looked back with an equal gaze, making sure the Overlord knew he wasn't intimedated. "I have nothing seriously against her, its the fact that she hides something from me that someone else never told me."

“I know exactly of what you speak for I saw many things through her guardsman. Indeed, she has changed, but she still is also the same Siri that you knew before. Remember, I see everything that happens with her, the Chairman, and to some extent, you.”

The Overlord rose from its throne and stepped over to the long weapon racks on the walls. With its numerous vision modes, it began to carefully inspect the quality and condition of each one before it moved on to the next one in the rack.

It continued speaking as it worked. “Everyone hides something. You do, she does, the Chairman does, and, certainly, I do. Do you think that capturing, interrogating, and executing terrorists is all the Order does? No, it does not, but getting back to the topic at hand. Everyone since the beginning of time hides at least one thing and they always hide it for a reason.”

"Like you, dear Overlord, and what you are." He was proving, something seemed suspicious about all this. "Siri and Jack hide things, but so do you, like you said. I bet I already know your secret."

Of course, he was bluffing, but he would like to see the Overlord reaction. This wa sturning into a very interesting conversation, one which could lead to him turning the tables on this instance. Afterall, right now, the Overlord held all the cards.

The Overlord looked up from a steel battleaxe and replied, “So you think you know what goes on in the depths of this castle? I doubt it. This is your first time here and the only places where you have been are the cell and this very hall.”

It folded its arms, glared at Drakomis, and replied arrogantly.

“You have said it yourself that I am a robotic menace. Do you think that I would have not gone through every possible scenario in my mind? I have, and I am absolutely certain that you know nothing about me or my secrets. You are not fooling anyone, Drakomis Reign.”

"Aw, shucks. I thought I'd have much more influence than that." He shurgged and stood, nearing the Overlord. "I suppose I'll get what I need in another way."

It happened in an instant, almost as if time froze for a given time. A massive thrust of energy could be felt, and seen through the right eyes, heading towards the Overlord. Clouds of dark bolts of particles encumpassed this energy, as did many other things....even the Force. Drakomis wanted to test this beast, and find out some answers.

There was apparently something very different about this mechanical being when it revealed that it did have a few capabilities. It had anticipated the attack to a degree and just when the energy was about to hit. Its hands pushed out and successfully deflected some of the energy away from its metallic body. Sparks flew out of its metal hands and some bursts of bright light rushed out of its palms as it attempted to conjure a spell. But Drakomis’ was indeed more skilled than the Overlord in the ways of the Force and it could not hold back any longer. The energy struck the Overlord and sent it crashing backwards onto the floor. All of its electronic components automatically shut down to protect themselves. The red orbs on its helmet turned to grey as the being laid on the floor motionless.

"Well damn," Drakomis huffed a bit as he stood, "Siri took it better, wasn't supposed to kill the droid....just have a friendly spar."

He sighed, rubbing his reptilian snout as he started over towards where the Overlord lay. Apparently, he was too much for the mechanical beast, and as he knealt by it, he would stufy it to try to figure out how to help.

"This is difficult.....only managed to fix certian robots...but this is ridiculus..."

He started to reach for the chest of the machine, searching for some panels and whatnot. Then, he stopped. "Wait, maybe it'll reboot.."

A moment later, the machinery inside of the chest of the Overlord began to emit a low humming noise as they powered up. One of the first things it needed to do was unload the stored energy within. Small bursts of static discharge were released from all over its body and into the floor. Next, the eyes illuminated once again. Its fingers and feet moved slightly as the Overlord tested the conditions of its body. It appeared that nothing serious had happened.

It moved its boots to rest completely on the floor and locked them down into the heavy stone. With a powerful push of its hands and arms, the Overlord pivoted upright. It made a grumbling noise as it unlocked the clamps and walked within several inches of Drakomis. Nothing was said by it as it stared at his assailant.

Drakomis stood and looked back with an equal gaze, or as best as he could to someone taller than him. He tilted his head a few times here and there, tail swishing behind him as he thought. After a few moments of silence, he spoke.

"Didn't mean to hurt you or anything, just playing around...like sparring...all that."

He smiled innocently, shurgging.

The Overlord stood before Drakomis and studied him carefully. It was not pleased that it had been attacked without provocation and sought to make things even. It spoke only briefly before it acted.

“I see.”

In an instant, its metal gloved right hand clenched into a fist and, not with its full strength for the Overlord did not want to make Drakomis’ head explode, it drove its fist directly at Drakomis’ face.

Drakomis was about to turn around when something hit his snout hard, and he went flying to the floor before he could comprehend what had happened. Joints popping, the harsh bang of lizard body slamming onto the floor, and the tail thump that followed, all added to the sudden instance. Several minutes could have passed, which easily felt only like several seconds to Drakomis, then he would sit up and rub his reptilian snout and face, standing to shake himself.

"Wheeeew-wwwiieee, that sure was some punch." He rubbed his cheek, "Nice arm ya got there."

The Overlord stood with its arms folded as it watched Drakomis. It felt that the appropriate justice had been served for this occasion and sought no more confrontations with him. But it did not really care how Drakomis had just shook it off as if was nothing and ignored what he had said, replying in a tense booming voice.

“Do not ever attack me in that way ever again for if you do, you will become one of my sacrifices.”

Drakomis chuckled, then stood firm and crossed his arms. "Trust me, lug-nut, you'd die trying." He winked.

The Overlord shook its head. "No, I believe you are mistaken. You have not seen my full capabilities. There is more to me than just the surprises that are contained within the body."

"Sure, sure." He acted as if he waved that off. "I'm sure your a perfectly tuned Battle robot who could kick someones ass." He looked sternly back, "But just as I killed Siri, I can kill you."

Drakmois believe dthis the truth, also. He wasn't one to lie to someone who was taller than him.

"Yes, you did indeed kill her, but that was merely an accident caused by a slight miscalculation. Had you two been really fighting each other, you would have surely died."

The Overlord glanced over at its throne and back to Drakomis before it decided to walk back over to it and sit down again.

He laughed a bit and found his chair, and sat back down. "Now before we kill each other, is there anything else we can discuss?"

The Overlord was beginning to grow rather tired of Drakomis’ attitude and sought to do something about it. It began to mumble in a chant. The words were incomprehensible but what they did was more important. Swarms of yellow glowing orbs rose up out of the floor and swirled around both the Overlord and Drakomis. Suddenly, they both vanished and rematerialized with their chairs in another room deep within the complex.

This particular stone room was much larger than the great hall that they had previously been in. It was already illuminated by numerous torches that hung from the walls. The centerpieces of the room were two rows of enormous statues of creatures which were on both sides of Drakomis but as to who they were, that would have been unknown to him. One of them was appeared to be a man resting on a cane and dressed formally in nineteenth century clothes. Another was a creature that had the body of a man but claws and head of a dragon. One of the furthest statues was one of a muscled person with four arms, two of which were holding a battleaxe. At the end of the two rows facing Drakomis and directly behind the Overlord was a female elf with her hands stretched out that held a sun and a moon.

Something else that would draw the attention of ones eyes were the stone pedestals that stood directly in front of the statues. Bolted into the flat tops were chains that were meant to restrain a person and hold them onto the pedestal. Several of them were still filled with ashes and strange armor that had at one time made up some human beings, and the smell of burned flesh continued to linger in the room.

The Overlord rested its arms on the throne and looked straight ahead at Drakomis but remained silent, hoping that he understood what would happen to him if he continued to anger it.

Drakomis was more amazed with the statues and atmosphere of this room than that of the previous. He would sit there for long minutes taking in the sights, slowly examining each one, then looking at small details and grinning here and there. Each statue presented more intellectual questions concerning them, such as if they were real species of chosen gods of cultures. He was truly facinated by these statues, more so by the female elf statue with the sun and moon. Indeed, Drakomis would have to study these if only for his minds benefits.

However, as soon as he smelt the fragrince of burning flesh, and saw the torture devices and restraints, he tilted his head. Gazing at the Overlord, he got the idea. Yet, the idea itself wasn't entirely taken in. Drakomis didn't care what punishment would be given to him, he had already been through worse in his life, and being tortured for being annoying was definitly low grade for him.

With a smirk he waved a clawed hand towards the surroundings, acting as if he completely ignored the Overlords...wild card, so-to-speak.

"These your gods? Their very interesting statues, I must say. What significance do they have?"

The Overlord gradually began to realize that perhaps there was little it could do to shaken Drakomis, unless it decided that killing him would be a viable option, but it was not at the point…yet. Although, on the other hand, its anger slowly began to subside as it decided to answer Drakomis’ questions.

“Each one of these gods has dominion over a particular realm, whether it be dawn, dusk, murder, life, or dreams. And when I am in need of their help, I merely speak to that god’s statue and request it. Of course, I must do something in return in order for them to grant my request.”

Drakomis nodded, "Interesting. Tell me, what must you do if you ask of their help?"

“There are numerous tasks which they have designated to me in the past.” It gestured to the charred remains on the pedestal. “The most recent one required that I capture and execute a temple guard who was secretly murdering pilgrims. Other tasks involved retrieving certain artifacts, clearing ruins of undesirables, performing rituals, and many other things, some of which can be quite strange.”

Drakomis nodded, "Very interesting. Everyone has their gods, and goddesses. Luckily yours can't harm me without......a valiant struggle." He smirked.

The Overlord shook its head. “I highly doubt that. It would be quite easy for any one of them to destroy you. They are gods, remember.”

"Oh I wasn't talkking about me," he laughed, "I was talking about the Goddess of Novar." He smiled, "We all have our gods and goddesses, like I said. Mine just so happens to be intertwined with my existance, so you know."

He shrugged and smirked.

The Overlord made a low grumbling sound before it spoke. “I have had enough of this conversation.” A hum began to emit from its armor as some of its power systems awaked from standby mode. “Farewell, Drakomis Reign. I know our paths will cross again in the future.”

As it finished its sentence, blue blots of electricity, similar to what was fired from a zat’ni’katel, rapidly streamed out of its chest towards Drakomis intending to incapacitate him for a few hours when he would be returned to wherever the Overlord chose.

Drakomis had no time to dodge, or respond. He was instantly incapacitated by the projectiles. His eyes closed quickly, and he was out.

Drakomis’ lightsaber was still not returned to him when he was teleported onto a plush sofa in a dark living room. The white-walled room was quite nice by human standards. Built into one wall was a fieldstone fireplace and a wooden mantle with quite a few medals and certificates hung over it. The other side of the room had large floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked a wooden deck, a small metal grill, and a nicely kept backyard. One could even faintly see a red swing set in the early morning darkness. The furniture of the room consisted of the sofa, a plush armchair identical in design to the sofa, a whicker armchair, and a coffee table. Also in the corner of the room, a tall grandfather clock stood. The time could be read clearly because of the reflective nature of its gold hands and showed the time as six after five.

The sofa that Drakomis was lying on was against the wall that had an opening cut through. On the other side of the opening was a small breakfast room with an attached kitchen. The cabinets were a plain white color with a wooden countertop. A percolating coffeepot rested on a peninsula of cabinets and made a fresh aroma that flowed throughout the house.

Slowly his eyes began to open, and with each passing second he began to get his vision back. A groan as he observed his surroundings, taking in the detail and texture of his new enviroment around him. Definitly a sceneray change if there ever was one, and a curious happening if he thought so himself.

His scaly palm rubbed his reptilian head, sitting up on the couch he cracked his jaw and neck to get the critches out. His tail slid off the couch as he moved his legs to the floor, slowly standing as he observed the time in the interesting grandfather clock.

"Six after five...ow..." He rubbed his head again, smelling the smell of some type of coffee. "Smells good...but where am I?"

"Hello?"

Groaning a little, Chairman O’Neill stumbled out of the master bedroom and into the hallway. He really hated Monday especially the getting up early part. After a nice relaxing weekend, it was not all that pleasant for him to get back to work and deal with the usual aggravations.

He finally made his way into kitchen and turned on the overhead light. “Damn,” he mumbled as he squinted his eyes at the blinding light, scratching a little at the front of his sweatshirt.

He shuffled himself over to the coffeepot and grabbed a mug from the countertop. After pouring himself a cup and putting a teaspoon of sugar and a little bit of creamer, he took a sip as he looked out of the large windows in the living room, but he saw something a little out of place when he did. No, that can’t be who I think it is, he thought to himself. He took another sip, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.

“Drak-o, what the hell are you doing here?”

>::BUMP::<

Drakomis groaned, he had looked out the large windows to get an idea of where he was at. His hand left his head as he heard the voice of one of his most respected friends. Holy crap, was he in Jacks house?! Woah, this was abit too much for him in one dose of reality, he hardly remembered previous events.

Looking to see a morning-like Jack O'Neill, he gave a sheepish grin. Hopefully Jack could take bullshit in the morning.

"Having sex with your wife, doesn't everybody?"

His expression showed he was throwing bullcrap at Jack.

It became quickly apparent that Jack was not a morning person. He nearly dropped his coffee mug when he heard what Drakomis had said.

“What?!”

After a brief moment of collecting his thoughts, he finally realized that Drakomis was only kidding around. He put his hand on his forehead and shook his head.

“Oh for cryin’ out loud, its way too early for BS.”

Drakomis nodded and urfed a bit as he almost stumbled. Something made him feel dizzy for a bit, must of been whatever put him to sleep earlier. Either way, he cought himself by the wall, tail sloppy as it slid and provided no help. He looked down at his tail, and mumbled "traitor" to it. The only response was a figet, which was clearly because of his weakened state.

Drakomis grumbled and looked at Jack again. "I agree, and since it seems you have no idea why I'm here, I'd like to say I don't either." He shrugged, "Your probably one of the people I'd come to when I'm drunk, but I don't remember drinking..."

His mind thought, a pain coming to him. He held his head as he groaned. "Guess I got drunk and stumbled in here then."

::BUMPZORZ::

Jack sighed and pulled another mug out of the wooden cabinet. After pouring more coffee, he slid it over to Drakomis and replied, “You need this more than I do.”

He spooned more sugar into his own mug before he spoke again. “Sounds like you had a bit of fun. It reminds me of my days back at the academy.” He looked down and smiled, remembering all sorts of trouble that he used to get in to.

Meanwhile, Siri had heard some of the commotion out in the kitchen and decided to come out and look. As she leaned against the refrigerator and watched, it was fairly obvious that she wore little or nothing at all when she slept. She wore a short, thin robe that she had wrapped tightly around her with a belt. Seeing Drakomis brought back all the pain that she felt the last time they had spoken to one another, and she said nothing.

Taking a sip of the coffe, gently drinking it like the stereotypical morning person would, he gazed at Siri who leaned against the wall. Something crossed his mind, almost like a realization of something. Yet it didn't stand firm in his thoughts out loud as most things would, it was just there, letting him know that she had been part of something important, and almost sad. His gaze kept itself attached to her figure, noting that which could not be hidden beneath such a garment, but not severely taking it in as a male should.

He wasn't in the mood, and he knew she was mated so it would literally be useless to get rouzed by such a beautiful figure. Especially since she was married to the one true friend he had, Jack O'Neill.

It didn't take him long afterward to gulp the coffee, he was obviously side-tracked by her expression and stance. His tail did sway in confusion, allowing such noticable motions to betray his hidden mind. A slight hurf as he finished the coffee, and finally spoke.

"Siri, your eyes gaze at me with saddness." He gazed at Jack for a moment informing him something was out of place with her look, "Is there something I have done?"

Wondering what all this was about, Jack turned from Drakomis and looked towards his wife with the utmost curiosity. His thoughts returned briefly to when Siri had returned from her meeting with Drakomis. She had seemed somehow different but when he asked her about it, she just denied that anything had gone wrong.

When Drakomis questioned her, she realized that her emotions came through and quickly put them into the back of her mind, showing a more tired look.

“No, there’s nothing that you have done. I just woke up. That’s all.”

It would be difficult for the average person to tell, but she just did not sound as if she believed her words.

Drakomis cought a glimpse of the retreating thoughts, and of a Force that assisted in that retreat. A Force he knew all too well, but would not openly say. His eyelids squinted as if staring at her from a distance, and he used his focus to retreave her feelings. He spoke out loud, but in hidden feelings that only Siri could understand.

"The dark can fatigue ones body if you work too hard in it, eh Siri?" He gave a chuckle, as if expressing everything was alright to the unbeknowst Jack. "Yes, plowing in the darkness can be a hamper, and its not sane."

He grufed as he yawned, tail slapping the floor almost as if it exposed his true feelings concerning the revelation that Siri was one with the Dark Side. She had failed to hide it too well, and in turn Drakomis was now highly suspicious about her.

In the end, if Siri didn't act quickly, Jack could find out more than a metaphore.

As Drakomis spoke his cryptic words, Siri tried her best to not act surprised. She had kept her conversion secret from everyone including her husband and did not intend to tell him until it was the right time. What was happening in front of her was her greatest fear. She feared what would happen if Jack found out her secret. Divorce was the most likely scenario. It was clearly something that she could not handle.

She pushed herself to smile. “Interesting words. You just seem to be full of sayings now, don’t you?”

Jack just rolled his eyes and thought of many on his own. Birds of a feather flock together. A penny saved is a penny earned. He sipped his coffee and moseyed towards the front door to get the newspaper.

Meanwhile, Siri watched him leave the room and spoke to Drakomis telepathically. Enough of this. We shall talk about it later, not now.

Yes, we shall, Sith Underlord. Melkos Unchanios trained you well, but not well enough. His mind spake a hurf to her, almost a grunt, but his tail thumped again to expose his minds thoughts to those trained to such body motions. Rolling his eyes, he went off subject.

"Tails can be traitors, even when their attached to your body." His tail twitched. "They tend to have a mind of their own sometimes." He chuckled and tapped his sharp claws on the surface of the table.

Gazing a Jack as he did his business, then back to Siri, he smiled as he would always smile to friends. Perhaps he hadn't condemned Siri! Afterall, Jack wasn't around for him to fake his emotions. This smile was true, pure, full of compassion and friendly love. In that moment, even his tail did smooth motions to expose his mind. This time, he wasn't betrayed by his "external" body parts.

He gave a grin to that thought, because thankfully his "special" part wasn't external, and easier to handle.

As Drakomis’ thoughts were revealed to her, Siri did not chuckle, laugh, or even become embarrassed, but instead a feeling of anger rose over her. She was beginning to grow tired of having him there. Even though most of her wanted him to stay so they could deal with the conflict between them, another small part had the urge to just kick him out of the house and have him find his own way home.

But she did not even feel like blocking her thoughts from him and stormed out of the room, mumbling, “I am going to change my clothes.”

Drakomis laughed whole-heartidly, a laugh well encompassed with amusement and age. He slapped his scaly palm on the counter, and snorted a few times as his mind awoke finally from its morning temperment. A slight chuckle ended this enjoyable laugh, which he then sighed happily to himself. He knew her feelings, and knew what she thought when she stormed off. This, and everything before her going-off, amused him emmensly.

He picked at his teeth with his pinky-claw, licking both rows of teeth and smacking his reptilian "lips" afterward. Drakomis was bored again, but knew what he had done was to a plan. He wanted Siri to reveal what she hid fully, and not have him to search or guess. A slight feeling of annoyance befell Drakomis as he thought on it, he didn't enjoy being left out, especially when one knew what happened before he got here.

A gaze towards the direction at which Siri had left, reptilian eye-slits widening and closing as he wondered what had happened before. He would continue to poke at her, he had to. It wasn't a matter of being mean, it was a matter of friendship. Obviously, he exposed everything to these people, and expected the same in return.

Sure, the occasional secret is alright, especially when it was personal. Yet, this wasn't personal....this involved him. Anything involving him, in which he couldn't remember, made him feel like he was being used.

Drakomis snorted, slightly growling as he closed his eyes. He didn't like being used.

Siri angrily slammed the door shut to the master bedroom and dropped herself into a chair. She laid her head down on the dresser and thought about all that had transpired in the past few minutes. Too much, she thought, wishing that Drakomis was not there. I can’t handle everything that’s going on. I just can’t. She had too much on her mind. Too much to do. Too much to plan. She began to realize that she had no reason to lash back at anyone. No one else had done anything wrong. It was her that was making everything a mess.

Siri looked up at her reflection in the full size mirror on the wall and spoke aloud as if it was another person. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Look what’s happened. Try to do too much and things start falling apart. Damnit.”

She turned away. “Just great…now I’m talking to myself…”

Meanwhile, bounding out of his room with way too much energy and happiness for the morning was Jack and Siri’s son, Alakantar. He was a Drow of only five years of age that had been adopted by them nearly four years earlier. Appearance wise, he was the complete opposite of his parents with long white hair, obsidian skin, and red eyes. Although on a personality level he was beginning to grow as stubborn and fearless as his mother and as sarcastic as his father which could be a good thing depending on how one looked at it.

He nearly slid and fell on the linoleum kitchen floor when he saw Drakomis. He was not really scared of him but instead startled. Never in his life had he seen a Komodren before and immediately his inquisitive nature surfaced. “Whoa, are you a dinosaur? Who are you?”

Drakomis, having shoved out for the moment the apparent feelings of the household, had helped himself to some more coffee within the free minutes he had to enjoy. Sipping heavily at his cup, he gazed outside the window admiring the scenery and enjoying the calm yet complex atmosphere of Jacks house. He sighed gently, rubbing his scaly chest with his palm, allowing his claws to scratch the rough scales and make a rough noise. He hadn't taken a shower or even cleaned himself rightly in a day or two, else his rough reptilian skin would have been much more easier to rub against.

Hopefully he would have time to correct this, his only thought as he sipped the coffee again as a young boy happened behind him.

Turning around and gazing with the calmest of eyes, his mind at ease for the moment as showed his tails gentle thumps against the kitchen floor. He smiled, making sure not to expose too much of his teeth.

"A dinosaur? Oooh..." He gave a mock look-over at himself, looking back and chuckling. "I look like one, so maybe I am! Hehe."

His tail continued to gently thump the floor, not too heavy as was his muscle in that region. He knealed before the little one. "My names Drakomis, whats yours?" He gave a smile, this time gently showing his teeth.

Alakantar studied Drakomis from head to toe in amazement that there was a dinosaur standing right before him. He put his hand out for a handshake just like he had always seen his father do when meeting someone new.

“I’m Alakantar, but everyone always calls me Alak.” He grinned widely. “Why are you here?”

Drakomis took Alakantar's small hand into his large clawed palm, and shook as gently as he could, making sure his claws wouldn't hurt the young one. "Nice to meet you Alakantar, or Alak." He shrugged a smile, "I'm not sure why I'm here, an old dinosaur like me usually has a purpose for being at places."

He placed both hands on his knee, looking around then back at Alakantar. "Do you know why I'm here?"

“Nope.” Alakantar shrugged before he dived into another question. “Where do you come from?”

At about this time, Jack had just returned from getting the newspaper which as he walked into the kitchen was dirty and partially shredded in his hands. He mumbled something about “a neighbor’s dumb dog” and looked down at his coffee mug. Sighing a little, he made his way back over to the coffee pot and began to pour himself another cup of coffee as he watched Alakantar and Drakomis.

Drakomis chuckled to himself as he observed Jacks return, noting marks of scuffles with, from what he could hear, a neighbor or something. Jack had a more active lifestyle than Drakomis thought, a smile as he returned his concentration to Alakantar.

"Where do I come from?" He looked up for a moment, sighing a bit, almost in a sad manner, then returned his gaze to Alakantar. "I come from far away, most definitly not here."

He pointed a gentle claw at Alak's nose, making sure that the dullness wasn't enough to cause any pain. "What about you young one, where do you come from?"

Alakantar was definitely not used to someone asking him so many questions. Usually he was the inquisitor in these kinds of situation, but it looked like Drakomis had the tables turned.

He smiled at Drakomis. “My mommy and daddy told me that I came from an island south of us. They found me there.”

Jack nodded as he watched. Unlike with most adopted children, Alakantar found out about his adoption very early due to the repetitive questions he asked. They were mainly about why he had dark skin unlike his parents, why could he see many colors in the dark, and why no one else at school looked like him.

"Really now! That means your very unique indeed, special among these people."

Drakomis smiled, it was true, since he seemed to be adopted and the lone fact none of his race was here. A special boy who would undoubtably have a special destiny for his homeland.

"I bet you have powers too, hmm?" He chuckled, giving a nod to Jack.

“Ummm…” He looked down thinking about it for a second before he replied. “Yeah, I do have one.”

Climbing over the sofa in his parents’ living room and eventually falling off, Alakantar found out he had the ability to levitate, to some degree but not that well. So his mother taught him how to concentrate on it and practice at it. This is what he tried to do in front of Drakomis. He closed his eyes so he would not be distracted and gradually his feet lifted up a few inches from the floor. A moment later, he was back down on his feet.

At about this time, Siri had just returned from the master bedroom wearing the usual clothes for when she taught at the various military academies around Northrop-Grumman. She wore heavy brown boots, leather pants made from the skin of an animal from her homeland, a vest made out of the same material, and a black shirt. Inside her vest, she had hidden her various weapons. None of which could be seen outright. Unlike the last time she was in the kitchen, she was calm instead and appeared to be on top of things.

"Interesting.."

Drakomis nodded in approval, seeing many younglings from his homeworld do these things was not that uncommon. Of course, these were Jedi or Sith, or inbetween the two Forces. Younglings trained since they were young to do these things. What was amazing about Alakantar, was that he wasn't in any special program, and therefore presented his skills in an almost ready manner.

"A bit more work, and you'll have a special ability no doubt." He winked at Alakantar, "I bet you could eventually fly."

Looking towards Siri and her outfit, something struck his mind again. She looked familiar, but he just couldn't grasp it. Her mind showed no Darkness, nor did she present emotion. It was unusual, what was clawing his mind about her? What secret had been hidden from his view? He sighed, perhaps sometime soon he would find out.

In the meantime... "Sorry about earlier," he bowed his head to Siri.

Siri glanced over to Drakomis and nodded her head. “It’s alright.” She left that topic alone for the time being and focused on what she always did every morning. Breakfast.

“What does everyone want for breakfast? Bacon and eggs?”

Before Jack had even a chance to reply, Alakantar piped up. “Yeah!” He then bolted for his usual chair at the small table in the center of the small yet comfortable breakfast room.

Jack chuckled as he walked towards the same table. “I’ll go with him.”

Siri began to open up the refrigerator to get the bacon and eggs as she asked, “Drakomis?”

"Well," he cleared his throat, wanting some raw food but then smiling, "I'll have what you guys are having I guess."

He gave a nod then walked over to the table, his seven-foot tall figure not helping him as he sat in the seat, positioning his tail for a comfortable stay. He nodded towards Jack.

"I'm glad you welcomed me within your house this morning, Jack." He gave a friendly bow of his head, "I owe you one."

It was true, he did. In Anagonia, although custom to welcome your brethren, coming in drunk into anothers household could be considered severely rude. Drakomis was overjoyed that this family had not sought insult, nor casted him out. He truly found people he could trust, and this would bide well for future relations between the two Nations.

A chuckle to himself, however he got here he didn't know, but he was glad a gun wasn't to his face.

As Siri set to work preparing a nice homemade breakfast, Jack smiled to Drakomis’ gratitude and patted him on the shoulder. “No problem. I know you would’ve done the same.”

With his other hand, Jack held the newspaper up in the air away from the clean table, mostly because there was still dirt imbedded in the pages. Several of the headlines caught his attention and read through what he could. Chaos Unfolding in Reichskamphen...death of national government causes civil disorder….Prussian troops will be arriving within the week in an attempt to restore order.

He grumbled a little because he couldn’t read the article but quickly moved onto the next. Unidentified Body Found…an approximately twenty year old man was found early this morning in the water at the New Newport News Shipyards…cause of death appears to have been several rifle blasts to the chest…third degree burns over the man’s upper legs have led investigators to believe that the incident was gang related…if you have any information, please contact the New Newport News Police Hotline at…

Jack raised an eyebrow at the article but moved down to another. Multi-auto Pileup on Beltway…yesterday at 1:35 PM, twenty automobiles were involved in an incident that claimed at least two lives…reports say that the cause of the pileup was a 2012 Honda Accord that hit a beer bottle at approximately 180 mph…

Drakomis smirked a bit at the thought of a drunk Jack, believing he could never get drunk. A slight hurf of amusement and he listened to the readouts of the newspaper. Ah, public media, what a wonderous thing. Too bad most of it turned out to be bad, in an odd sense of things.

Some odd claw-taps later against the kitchen table, Drakomis nodded towards the end of such readings. A silence would befall his thoughts and speech, he thinking over what was read.

Finally, he spoke. "Might want to look into that gang-related thing," raising a claw-finger, "might be a big crime ring or somethin'. Juicy, it sounds, perhaps I could help." He grinned, pointing at the newspaper, "I'd say beer does kill, don't you?"

As he put down the newspaper, a somber look came across his face. “Don’t always trust what you read in the papers. Things aren’t as they seem. Definitely not here.”

Meanwhile, Siri came around the peninsula of cabinets with two big plates of food. In one was thin, crispy bacon, still sizzling hot, while in the other was scrambled eggs. She set them down in the center of the table and walked back into the kitchen. After a moment, she returned with a pitcher of orange juice, cups, plates, and silverware, which she immediately handed out to those at the table.

"I see."

A slow nod, then the observance and smell of food before him. He sniffed deeply, exhaling with a delightful sound. He licked his chops, restraining the drool from dripping before these fine people, as he did have a strain of Komodo in him.

"Smells heavinly." He waited to see if they did prayer or sorts, or just ate, to be a kind guest.

“Indeed, it does,” Jack replied. “I think Siri makes the best food. I just mostly burn things.”

She smiled at that compliment as she helped Alakantar by scooping out the food onto his plate and filling his cup with orange juice. After that, Jack picked up one of the bowls, scooped its contents into his plate, and handed it to Drakomis before he did the same to the next one. By now, Alakantar had already begun to eat and Siri started to do the same.

Drakomis smiled at them, thank Jack for the plate as he grasped it and placed it before him. Uticels beside, he placed his hands together and bowed his head for a moment, eyes closed for those precious seconds in time as he thanked that which allowed him life and kept him on his path. A smile as he finished, thanking everyone once more, he began to eat.

"Yes," he said as he swollowed his first bit, "Very good."

As the rest of the family happily ate their breakfast, Jack spoke to Drakomis between swallows, of course. “Oh yeah, before I forget, in case you’re wondering how you’re going home. I can take you out to the spaceport and I’ll get you a first class ticket back to Anagonia. TWA has got some very luxurious ships. I think you’d like it.”

Siri looked up from her plate and interrupted. “I can take him. My earliest class isn’t for a few hours. Remember, today’s the day you bring Alak to work with you.”

Jack chuckled. “Heh heh, I forgot. So what do you think, Drak-o?”

Shrugs and smiles, somehow finishing his plate as he gulps his food down like a lizard would. "I believe I like it, wouldn't mind catching up on events with Siri, and glad I got to have breakfast with your family."

He bowed his head again, smiling, drinking his drink.

Jack smiled as he swallowed his food. “It was great having you here, too. I’d like to say that you’re welcome to join us anytime.” He paused and took a drink before he spoke again. “But just a tip though. Watch yourself the next time you decide to go barhopping around here. You could end up somewhere that isn’t as nice as here.”

He finished the rest of his food shortly after. “Now if y’all will excuse me, I need to go get ready.” He rose from his chair and moseyed off towards the bedroom.

"Alrighty."

He nodded at jack as he went, sitting back and giving a burp, excusing himself politely and yawning. He looked at Siri, "No wonder he loves you, your a good cook! Har har!"

Her face reddened a little at the complement. “Thank you. Don’t let what he says fool you though. He makes excellent steaks on the grill. Although I must admit, beer is a requirement for every meal that he makes. Steaks, omelets, everything.”

Siri turned to her son. “Now, Alak, you go in the other room and get changed. I’ve laid out your clothes on the bed. Just throw your clothes in the hamper. Alright?”

“I will.” Ending with that, he ran off to his room while Siri watched, smiling.

Sighs a bit, watching her smile, and her look towards her son. He huffed happily for her, a shrug almost, silent, as he looked back at the table. That reminded him of his centuries of life, without one whom he could love. It also reminded him of his lost family, taken by a darkness, and of his own son, who was far away.

"He must be happy....to have a wife."

Feeling some of Drakomis’ pain, Siri’s thoughts immediately turned to a situation many centuries ago. She had lost many things at that time. Most of which was irreplaceable. Family. Love. Innocence. Emotion. All of it was snatched up from her. She was left as nothing more than a shell of what she once was.

She looked up and realized that her mind lingered for too long. In an attempt to divert her focus, she asked Drakomis. “Perhaps you would want to clean up before your trip. There’s a spare bathroom at the end of the hall and to the left.”

Drakomis nodded, eager to get on with life after his thoughts. He stood, gazing down at Siri, seeing a trail of her sad thoughts within her mind, feeling it more-so, and patting her shoulder. "You had a chance to start over, I'm glad you took it."

With that, he left, minutes later in the spare bathroom and sighing gently. Readying the shower, he would enter it, letting the hot water slide across his body. He sighed heavily this time, noting he was doing a lot of sighing lately. Moving his head, closing his eyes, into the stream of the shower, he would enjoy the streams down his scaly back.

Drakomis wondered why so much had transpired, why he had forgotton, why he was here. Komodren don't get drunk, at least not in the sense of passing out. Something MADE him pass out, MADE him forget, PLACED him here. Jack couldn't of done such a thing, and Alakantar was promising, but not a canidate by no means.

His eyes opened, "Siri."

It made sense now! Her feelings and dark emotions, her actions and hatred at the beginning. She knew what happened, if not having done it herself! He grunted.

For now, he would concentrate on his body, going about the business of cleaning it.

By the time that Drakomis had finished his shower, Siri was in the kitchen busily putting away the dishes and silverware that she had just washed from breakfast. Nearby Jack was gathering together piles of reports that he had been reading the night before. He had to review them, write comments, and send them back to the department from which they came. Meanwhile, Alakantar was waiting by the door, happily watching the neighbor’s dog running down the street with someone else’s newspaper.

“Finally,” Jack announced when he had all the reports bound together neatly by rubber bands. “Well, I won’t be too late for work.” He glanced over at the clock but then saw Drakomis enter the room. “Ah, Drak-o, I’d like to stay and chat, but I seriously need to get out to the office. Things have been a real mess lately since the Emperor of Greater Prussia was assassinated and the capital city nuked…”

Siri turned around and interrupted, essentially telling him that if he continued rambling, he would be even later. “Jack…”

“Oh…yeah.” He shook Drakomis’ hand. “You take care of yourself. And watch yourself the next time you go out drinking.”

Drakomis shook Jacks hand back, "I will, you take care now." He winked, "You ever want our help just ask."

Smiling, he adjusted his Jedi robe that he had been wearing for some time now, using some of Jacks cologne to lessen the smell of some odd-day old clothing. Grufing and cleaning his teeth again, tail wrapping around his right leg for a moment before settling down, he looked towards Siri.

"Ready to head out?"

From the doorway, Siri watched Jack and Alakantar drive away in his large Ford pickup truck, and she sighed. The constant running around was getting tiring for her. She wished that she could spend more time with her family, but that did not look like it would happen anytime soon.

She turned to Drakomis and replied, “Yeah, I think so.”

After he left the house, she grabbed her rapier, locked everything up, and followed him out to the garage. Out there were two automobiles. One was a Porsche Carrera GT while the other remained hidden under a tarp. While Siri unfastened the straps on it, she looked over to Drakomis.

“We will need to take the Vector. There is no possible way that you and your tail can fit in the Porsche. Hell, even Jack can’t barely fit.”

She gave the tarp a yank and if came flying off, revealing a silver Lamborghini-styled car with a large rear spoiler that was the exact height as the cabin area of the car. Siri opened up the door which literally opened upward like scissors instead of out like a regular car.

“C’mon, get in.”

OOC: This is the car: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/TheQ2005/Miscellaneous/94-wx3_2.jpg

Standing to chuckle at her comment, then admiring the car, he looked back at his nations vehicles and how some resembled this. Sure, most of Anagonia was using Hydrogen-powered vehicles, most of which were speedsters and included hovering capabilities. However, the old-style crowd did get the wheeled versions of the cars hovering counterparts, which were admitidly faster. He grinned, thinking of Jack and Siri. They indeed loved slick and stylish vehicles, perhaps they should come and engage in some friendly...races?

Snorting a bit at the racing thought, almost a laugh, he entered the vehicle and comfortably positioned his tail over his lap, placing on the seat-belt as best as he could.

"Nice car," he said.

After starting up the car, Siri glanced over to the right at Drakomis as he put on his seat belt. “Smart thinking,” she said as she fastened hers. The throaty rumbling of the eight cylinder engine could be heard in the background as her foot hit the gas pedal every so often. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses out of the glove compartment and put them on. Next, she released the emergency brake and slid the gearshift with her left hand down into reverse.

Through all of her mirrors, she looked down the street for cars, people, or any other objects before she backed up. But then, a grin came over her face, and she stomped down on the gas pedal. The tires spun and smoked, making a horrible squealing sound before they caught any traction. Suddenly, the car bolted down the driveway in reverse and at the last second, Siri turned the wheel sharply and took her foot off of the pedal, sending the car sideways into the road and barely missing the mailbox. Next, before the car had even come to a complete stop, she pulled the gearshift into drive and stomped on the pedal again. She then managed to steer the car in the correct direction. It fishtailed for a bit but thankfully straightened out as the car sped down the road.

Drakomis was a bit taken back by how fast she was going in the car, and the moves she pulled. Hanging on for dear life at the sharp turn to the road, he gruffed a few more times as he noted with a split-second look that Siri missed the mailbox. He grinned, she finishing her little manuver and rolling down the road. A slight laugh as he looked at her.

"Minus five-hundred points, you missed the mailbox!"

Siri laughed. Somehow, it felt like nothing had changed, like old times, but she knew that the questions still lingered under all of this friendliness and happiness. She sighed and concentrated on her driving for the moment as she took the onramp onto the capital beltway, the forty lane high-speed freeway that circled the entire city. As soon as she had cleared the merging, she pressed her foot down onto the pedal and the car raced forward. The acceleration of the car was so fast that the digital speedometer moved up in ten mile an hour increments.

50…60…70…80…90…100…110…120…

By now, she was passing most traffic, the Mercedes and BMWs that the businessmen drove, and darted over into the farthest lanes to the left, the ones that contained the high-end performance cars.

130…140…150…160…170…180…190…200…210…220…230…240...245…248…250

Finally, she reached the top speed of the car. She was passing nearly everything as she weaved dangerously around slower moving cars, at times missing them only by mere inches. Riding as a passenger with her made most people terrified.

Drakomis relaxed, even as she accelerated. He seemed to be used to this, nothing seemed to be phased expect for his tail being pressed against the seat due to the momentum of it all. Otherwise, his mind did indeed linger on questions, wondering what and how he had got here, why Siri was acting suspicious. He wondered what questions to ask.

Sighing, even as she reached the max of the car in speed, he looked over to Siri. "Not fast enough to hamper my thoughts, unfortunatly." He smiled, "Why did you bring me here?"

It was a shot in the dark question, he only sermised she did by the clues he gathered. Yet his question was sure, hopefully sure enough to get an answer.

After Drakomis had asked the question, the car slowed to a more sane speed as Siri moved it back across the highway into the farthest right lane. It slowly became apparent that she was not planning on going to the spaceport just yet.

“I…I wanted to put things right after how our last meeting went.”

She decided that if they were going to talk that it would be much safer to do it standing still then cruising along at over two-hundred miles an hour. The car slowed even more as she took the exit labeled “Chesterfield Heights” and left the freeway. Several minutes passed while the car cruised up the mountains that surrounded the capital city. During that time, Siri barely said anything as she thought about everything that she would need to explain.

Finally, the car turned onto a gravel road and came to a stop near a group of trees. The view from that height was impressive. One could see the entire capital city. Commercial, residential, and industrial districts. Even the mile high silver and blue towers of the capital building were clearly visible.

Siri turned off the car and looked at Drakomis. “You wanted to talk then let’s talk,” she said as she opened car door.

A warm breeze swept across the mountains as the son shone brightly above. Siri looked up and around her for any other people nearby. There was no one. But she did feel the presence of her guards. Ten were waiting a significant distance away while a cloaked vessel hovered over them. She sighed a little and sat down under one of the trees, taking off her sunglasses and setting them on the ground beside her.

Slowly Drakomis exited the vehicle, starting towards Siri in a walk not expressing any attitude. His voice, however, spoke another story. It was stern, and to the point. Looking down at Siri, and leaning against another tree as his tail wrapped around the tree about halfway. Crossing his arm, with one leg crossing over the other for a brief moment, he sighed and started.

"Why can't I remember what happened, and why was I in your house?" He grufed, "I know I wasn't drunk."

Siri looked up at him and partially spoke to herself. “Hmmm…apparently, it has some side effects.” She cleared her throat before she continued. “You were not drunk, ever. Everything you know about what happened should still be in your memories. You just have to find them.”

She rested her back upon the tree trunk. “I’m surprised the newspaper article this morning did not jog your memory.”

"What do you mean?"

He started to sit down, still against the tree, hands to his side now as he observed her carefully.

"I just want to know what all this is about," he said softly, "thats all."

“You want to know why you are here, correct?” She leaned her head back onto the tree and shut her eyes. “As I said earlier, I brought you here so we could talk. Ever since we had that…err…last meeting of ours, I have wanted to talk to you about it because you gave me such a cold shoulder then. It's been on my mind ever since.”

"Cold shoulder?"

Drakomis sighed and held his muzzle for a few seconds, then nodded. He couldn't remember it, but he went along with it. He watched her expressions and body motions to figure out just what was going on in her mind and such. His tail did slide against the ground beside the tree, clear sign he was listening and highly interested. Closing his eyes each time he would blink, listening intently.

"How so? I'm sure I'd never do that to you."

Siri was becoming a little irritated as Drakomis’ loss of memory. This was not supposed to be happening. The stunner wasn’t even that powerful. She opened her eyes and looked over at him. “You woke up after Melkos had put you asleep and said little. Then, you pretty much wanted to leave and did. If that isn't giving someone a cold shoulder, then I don't know what it is.”

"Melkos? Melkos Unchanos?"

Now he was more confused than ever, wondering why Melkos of all entities would bring himself into situations. Then, it suddenly made sense. He spoke his revelation aloud.

"Of course! Melkos has that cunning ability to really make people forget things, and thats probably what he did to me." He shrugged, "Why I have no idea, but I do trust Melkos...so..."

He looked at Siri. "If I did give a cold shoulder, it wasn't because I wanted to." He smiled, "Siri, Melkos made me forget."

“Oh.”

It was the only word that managed to come out of her mouth. She realized that fretting over this whole mess for the last few months was for nothing. Melkos had taken care of it all for her. But still, she hadn’t expected everything would turn out this way. It was strange. She wanted to know the reasoning behind it because he had never told her.

"Heh, yea, Melkos is strange like that. Sometimes he'll take a memory or blank it out just because that person might know too much about something." He looked away and huffed a smile, "He's a good skeleton guy, pledged to me in service and life. I know he means every ounce of good."

He shuffled his position and looked back at her, curious. "Got any questions for me?"

She had to admit to herself that this happening took a great burden off of her chest and she appeared to be more at ease than before.

“I’m surprised at how you are so calm about having your memories taken like that. Personally, I would be just the opposite. How can you just sit there and act like it’s nothing?”

"I trust Melkos, he has his reasons." Shrugs, "What is an Order without trust? What is trust without reason?"

He smiled gently at her, "So long as he doesn't slice my tail off, I'm alright with it."

“Hmmm...perhaps you may be right.” Siri decided to not linger on such a topic and decided to switch to something more pleasant to her.

“In case you forgot, this is your first time in our nation. How do you like it?” She nodded towards the towering skyline in the distance.

Drakomis gazed at the skyline, admiring it. "Yes, it is beautiful, reminds me of Novar in some aspects."

It did, in fact. His mind didn't think too much about the current conversation, he just admired it. Cities of steel, or metal, or whatever made them. Vehicles and flying things, it ment commerce and business to this planet. Very touching at points, as he did see wildlife in the forests that dotted the view. He sighed happily, it was beautiful.

"Your planet is full of life, just like ours."

“Full of life,” she repeated, looking out over the beautiful city. “There are times where I love this city more than my own homeland. Here I don’t have to fear for my life every time I step out the door. Diseases are not as rampant out on the wilderness. There are not any forbidden areas where evil lurks.”

She sighed happily and turned to Drakomis. “If you say that this planet is like yours, then I must go visit it one day.”

Drakomis nodded, "Novar would celebrate to have you step onto our Homeworld. Your people are welcome always."

He smiled, looking down at his lap for a moment, sighing. "Being what I am is hard, especially when people like Melkor seem to think memories are best forgotton!" He laughed afterwards, expressing a joke.

“Forgotten memories can be pretty bad.” Siri chuckled as a grin suddenly came across her face. “Then you must not remember how you and I…you know…or perhaps….you don’t know.” She grinned even more.

Drakomis gave a shocked expression, looking at Siri suddenly. "We what? What did we do?"

He gasped audiably, thinking instaly of something in the realms of sexual stuff. Then Jack with a gun, an image of it, appeared in his head. He shivered a bit, fighting his best friend wasn't the one thing he wanted. He grimmiced a bit, hoping by the Force this wasn't what it seemed to be.

Siri rose from her spot and sat down right beside him, grinning. “So you don’t remember? It was back aboard my ship. We had candles lit around the room. Soft music playing.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Mmmmm…It was very pleasurable for the both of us. You were strong, yet gentle. So much better than Jack ever was.”

Drakomis, by now, was stumped beyond belief. He couldn't believe what Siri was saying, and furthermore couldn't believe what his mind was trying to comprehend. As she laid her head on his shoulder, he looked at her, gazed, wondering if this was true. Her expressions, her motions, and her attitude seemed to express that it was.

Had he truly mated this woman? Was that what she was truly implying? He didn't have the right mindset to fully understand, but the thoughtof it did excite him a bit....

No, this was Jacks wife, how could he of done this to his best friend? But she seemed so honest about it, as if it happened for a reason. Yet in his heart he felt that all perhaps wasn't what it seemed, and that he shouldn't be worried.

He took his hearts advice. "Really? What did we do exactly?" His voice calmer now, not expressing his intent to find out what really went on.

Siri closed her eyes and said softly, “Oh don’t be so silly, Drakomis. It’s fairly obvious what happened that…mmm….wonderful night.” She moved even closer to him. “You taught me that having more than one lover makes life all the more grand.”

Drakomis nearly had a heart-attack, his breathing came in short rasps for air. He was nearly in shock, she had just said they basically made love. How in the living stars could they make love? It was impossible, especially since she was married! Surely Drakomis wasn't foolish enough to dishonor Jacks friendship this way!

His expression changed from peace, to worry, and he gulped silently to himself. "B-but....I would never betray Jack's trust...h-how could I of mated you?!"

Siri decided that enough was enough and sat upright, looking at him with the largest smile ever. “You can rest easy. It never ever happened.” She started to snicker at first, but she could not hold it in no more and fell over laughing. “Gotcha!”

Sighing heavily, somewhat suprised by these turn of events, he lumped back against the tree and groaned at the knowledge that he didn't mate her. His body literally collpased against the tree, and he breathed easily now. After a few minutes of recovering, and listeing to Siri's insane laughter, he gazed at her for his rebound.

"I must say though, you did arose me with your little joke." He grinned, "Almost wished it did happen."

After a few moments of rolling around laughing on the ground, she gradually calmed down and wiped her watery eyes. But when Drakomis spoke, she sat up and looked right at him.

“Oh really?” She raised an eyebrow and smiled a little. “Well, had our little romp been true, then it would have been unfortunate that you could not remember it.”

"Indeed," he responded almost serenly, "I bet it would of been the most enjoyable experience in my life."

Drakomis licked the tip of his snout in a appealing gesture of sorts, winking afterward and smiling then. He rested against the tree firmly now, rasing a knee and laying an arm on it as he continued to gaze at Siri. He truly would have taken her if he could, but Jacks friendship was important, he having her as his which Drakomis would never defile. A slight grin.

"Very unfortunate your mated, very unfortunate." A slight chuckle. "I'm happy for Jack though, now I see why he stays with you."

Siri nodded. “What you say is true. He has told me that he wouldn’t trade me for anything in the universe.”

His previous comments sparked her curiosity though and she questioned him about it. “We’re good friends and I think we can be fully honest with one another. So I am wondering, what makes me so appealing to you?”

Drakomis shrugged, "The way you look, your species, and that tight leather outfit that SCREAMS for me to submit." He grinned.

She laughed at how true it was. “I always have that effect on males of many species.” She paused for a moment and grinned. “Even Jack wants to submit.”

"Oh ho ho," he explaimed, "now thats a suprise!"

His tail thumped, he was enjoying this talk with Siri. Being open and honest with the opposite sex without actually doing mating was pretty fulfilling. Usually he'd have to be polite and kind, but not with Siri! He was truly enjoying this free time.

Siri chuckled. “You may think you know a person and their habits when talking to them, but when you get them into bed and…as you say “mate”…they will surprise you.”

Smiling, she leaned back against the tree and crossed her legs. Like Drakomis, she was also enjoying this conversation for there were few people, aside from Jack, that she could be this open to.

"Oh I know, I know. Just haven't got enough experience to know it all."

He winked again, the smiled as he sighed gently. He wondered where all this conversation would lead to, and in the back of his mind, when he would get home. Until then, he was with a friend, and was enjoying his time.

"Being a Jedi/Sith guy is kinda annoying, because you have to have restraint."

Siri shook her head and sighed. She was never one to be bound by rules like that. “Take my advice. There are times where you should show restraint, and there are other times where you should…well…go wild.”

Drakomis gazed at her, as if expressing doubt. But he nodded, considering her words as true. Afterall, she was the complete opposite of Drakomis. Free, untamed, and wild. All outside of battle, which is where Drakomis was such. He admired her, sometimes even wanted her, but if there was one thing he treasured it was their friendship, and that of her husbands.

"If not for Jack, I would have made you mine."

Taken back suddenly, Drakomis realized he had spoken his thoughts out loud. He cleared his throat and looked away shyly, trying to regain what composure he lost.

"Sorry, spoke my mind.."

At first, Siri was taken back by his bluntness for she knew that this really wasn’t his style. But she considered the possibility that she may be rubbing off on him.

“Interesting.” She rubbed her chin, thinking about what he said. “So you think you would have the skill to be able to sweep me off of my feet, as they say? It is not an easy task.”

He winked at her, feeling at ease now, looking back at her as he did. "If I wanted you badly enough, I would be able to." He smiled, "Trust me, when I want something, I work hard for it."

She smiled. “And I would make you work really hard for it too. I simply just can’t go with any guy who just flatters me. Remember, I was single for three-hundred thirty-four years and never even mated during that time either. Clearly, it wouldn’t be easy.”

"BaHAHAHAHAHA - HAHAHAHA!" He laughed heartidly, looking back at her. "You would be too easy...no one can resist...my charms" He winked jokingly.

Drakomis was having the time of his life, expressing finally the kiddish side of himself, allowing it to become known. It was unlike him to be this comfortable around someone, but he was being very open around Siri. If anything, if she wasn't a trustworthy as she was, she'd be in a perfect position to gain information about Anagonia.

But Drakomis trusted her, for besides, they both were open to each other.

Siri’s mind began to wander a little as she thought about why Drakomis had not remarried. He was obviously quite charming and a great person to be around. There was no logical reason why he should still be single. So she made a vow to herself that she would do everything that she could to help him out in this particular area, but first she would have to find out some more about the way he dealt this these kinds of relationships.

She tilted her head and asked, “Oh really? What could you do that would charm me?”

Drakomis suddenly grabbed Siri, helping both stand with ease. He tilted her with one arm, strong enough to hold her firm, yet gentle, across her back. His free hand waved across her hair smoothly as he began to look into her eyes. His gaze was that of someone wise, and thoughtful, kind and considerate. His tail would remain behind him, straying from doing its part.

The suns gentle rays expressed the warmth across his face, shining half of it and revealing the scales of green that made his body so. His right eye, shinned by the light, would sparkle here and there, but remain constant in its gaze towards Siris eyes. The neverending sound of the trees russeling to the wind, the soft touch of his old, yet gentle, clawed hands to her scalp and hair. He truly was after her heart in this moment, having no other desire to prove his worth.

A slight nod towards her as the calm breeze past them, a smile revealing his charming sparkling teeth. "I would comfort you in the spring-time winds, where the sun would guide our eyes, and bring together our souls."

Contrary to what she had always done in these sorts of situations, Siri chose to not resist Drakomis as he took her into his arms. Something about him seemed to compel her to move closer to him. Perhaps she was beginning to have feelings for him. He was right no one could resist his charm. Inside of her though, she felt an aching sensation as if something was trying to tell her something, but she attempted to ignore it and gazed up to his kind face. She brought one of her soft, smooth hands up and gently rubbed it on his cheek.

She smiled warmly and replied softly what was obvious. “You are completely right. I cannot resist your charms.”

A genlte movement by his head allowed the light shining on it to reveal his complextion again, instead of hiding it behind his charming gaze. He planeted a soft kiss on her cheek, then let her go. He wouldn't kiss her truly, he couldn't Rubbing her hair one more time, and nurring towards her rub on his scaly cheek, he sighed. Drakomis knew in his heart he could not go any further, and upon helping her stand and releasing her, he knew this moment would never come again.

Standing fully, the gentle breeze seemed to become stronger, and the smeel of spring more apparent. The suns light now came fully over their spot, and Drakomis smiled gently as he bowed his head to Siri.

"I'm glad I still have it," he huffed a bit, looking down then back at her. The trees russling in a heavier breeze as sprint-time pedals flew past.

Something made the scene more beautiful than it should be, something that was gentle and loving, and full of passion and care. Breathing in softly, he finally spoke, but in a whisper. A very soft whisper.

"I wish we could kiss....but....you know." The truth of his soul was spoken, and the atmosphere seemed to get more saddened, almost as if...his emotions had an impact.

Sharp pains shot through her body. Her hand snapped up to her forehead and she shut her eyes in agony. It was happening again, the flashbacks. The pain, the death, the sorrow. Several weeks of the horror condensed down to only a few short seconds. She could barely handle it. They had happened enough of times for her to deduce that they were triggered by something she saw, heard, or perhaps felt.

Drakomis. His name rung out in her mind. It had to be the feelings that rose up within her that caused this. It was the only answer.

Siri took several deep breaths and regained her composure. She gave off the impression that nothing was wrong as she answered honestly. “Do not be saddened over that. There is someone waiting out there for you. Someone better than myself. Someone who would be more suited to your lifestyle. I know this. I have felt it.”

Drakomis expression seemed to shine, as did the atmosphere. Everything became bright and expressive, happy almost, once more. The breeze full of spring vigor and life. The pedals seemed to flow more easily in the breeze itself, and Drakomis started to close his eyes slowly, to take in a breath.

Then-....time seemed to suddenly stop. The pedals in the wind froze, the rustling trees stopped, and the breeze halted. Light, even, seemed to be somewhat effected. Darkness, its heavy and costly tendrals, stretched through the frozen scene. Like a monster from the night, bent on destroying all happiness and life, wrething and consuming all in its path.

This Darkness came in the form of a forzen wasteland, slowly and almost thoughtfully everything froze. A slow encompassing area around the frozen Drakomis and Siri, whom was uneffected by the time-freeze.

Everything would be cold, and just as soon the skeletal and dark body of Melkos came from an area near where Drakomis was. Everywhere he stepped, things seemed to die. It was as if his very presence defied reality, and defied this realm.

Speaking softly, yet in a harsh and rasp tone, his skeletal jaws moved in a slow manner. Red eyes gazing at Siri with intense purpose, gazing to and through her very soul.

Child, Melkos spoke, why do you suffer your pathetic pains? I have made given you the Dark, why do you suppress it?

Siri seemed to be no longer startled by Melkos’ unique entrances. She had seen them numerous times when she called upon her master to train her. But this time, it was different. He had come here for his own reasons and not by her will.

Once again, she felt the pain resurfacing when he questioned her and for the first time, she did not attempt to hold it back. She had to explain it to someone. Who better than her trainer and master?

As she began to speak, her face paled and tears began to stream down her face. “Why do I suffer, my lord? I do not know. I keep experiencing flashbacks and nightmares from my past…my childhood. I am constantly plagued by them, night and day. And for the first time in my life, I am fearful of even sleep.” She began crying more and more. Her voice became shaky. “Of all the people that I have seen die, never have I cried a single tear for them. But when I see the death of…my parents and my brother an…and see their bodies rotting in the streets of our town…it terrifies me.”

The cloud came closer to Siri, looking more like a cloak covering Melkos's dark skeletal entity following as if some clothing of sorts. The arm of the darkness robe came forth to reveal a skeletal hand, gently caressing Siri's cheeks and raising her head to meet his red eyes. He spoke softly, his words seeming to come from eternity this time.

My Child, his voice calmer and less straining towards Siri now, your pain is for a purpose, I promise. Things must come to pass, things that only you can make come to pass. He nodded gently, the darkness swirling around his eyes and head as he did. I have seen it, and I know. You are to bring close Jack and Drakomis for a final revelation, you are part of this. My plan must come to pass, and only you can do it.

Melkos released his gentle grasp of her chin, and helped her stand. The impossible seemed to happen, for his face seemed to smile. But how could it, a skeletal face of bone and spirit, smile? Somehow, it did, perhaps with the help of the darkness which he controlled. Even his red eyes seemed to shine dimmer, softer, almost as if he was CARING.

My Child, you are to be my greates apprentice, and I shall not let you fall without purpose. He nodded slowly, that is my promise.

Slowly, Siri began to wipe away the tears from her face and sniffed a little. She still felt the burden of her pain but it was partially relieved by Melkos’ comforting words. It was as if he watched over her, guided her, and taught her, much like a parent would do. His unexpected smile seemed to reinforce this, along with how he seemed to care about her, something she had never seen him do.

There was something else that lingered on her mind that she needed to ask him. So she bowed her head in respect. “You know of my future, my lord. I wish to ask a question of you.” She took a deep breath in an attempt to keep herself from getting overly emotional. “I have been having these…visions…of an event in the future. I have seen an army marching through the streets of Caprica City, and people dying in the streets. Also, I have seen the tombstones of Jack and my son. Will this come to pass?”

Melkos's figure seemed to become more lighter, as if a Light Force seemed to make itself known. If this was true, then Melkos substained a Light Side element within his being, which could be the exact reason why Melkos seemed more parent-like than anything.

Waving a hand to her, the smile substained itself. My Child, your son shall not die. Your husband- Melkos seemed to hesitate, which was unlike him -I...- the hesitation lingered for a moment or two more, before he continued again -He will not die completely. Of your Nation and City, I cannot reveal. Those destiny's I have no true impact on as of yet, and thus I shall not say.

Siri breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that Alakantar would live but she was still concerned over her husband. Melkos’ answer was too vague for her and the hesitation bothered her. She did not want anything to happen to Jack and would do anything, even give up her own life, to save his.

A worried expression came across her face. “Not die completely? I do not understand what you mean, my lord.”

Melkos sighed through eternity, some kind of smoke-like substance coming from his skeletal mouth. His red eyes dissappeared for a moment, then came back. He seemed to blink.

My child, he will die. But he shall live, I give my word.

Siri was relieved to hear that Jack would live once again. But something about Melkos’ words made her think that he would have something to so with his return to the living.

Nevertheless, she wanted to express her gratitude and managed to smile a little. “Thank you, my father…I mean…my lord.”

Her face reddened with embarrassment. Could this possibly be a Freudian slip? Quite possibly. Aside from the brief ten years before her parents’ death, she had no one that she felt even came close to being a parent to her. Even the friends of her family that took her and her sister in were never considered as parents by her. To Siri, they just provided necessities, but there were no family bonds, something that she had longed for.

She bowed her head in respect again and apologized to Melkos. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

The Light seemed to encompass his skeletal face, forming an almost human-like appearence of a long-dead man. Siri seemed to be brining out the Good in Melkos, perhaps even helping him bring it out. The "face" of Light mist smiled, the "eyes" still having the red center, but having more "human" features. Her words had really warmed his heart, perhaps this was the key to truly making Melkos forget his Sith past....

My Child, his voice SOUNDED more human now, softer and way more gentle, fear not. I am honored by what you called me, for it affirms my beliefs that I have watched over you well. His head nodded, looking like the "face" blinked slowly, I know your past, that is why I chose you.

Siri was comforted by Melkos’ new appearance. He seemed more human to her. And when he gently spoke to her, the pains seemed to recede from within her. They were what she needed to hear. Words of compassion and acceptance.

“You have indeed watched over me well, my father.” This time she truly meant to call him that and now looked up to him with a grateful attitude. “You have been one of the few who have not condemned me for what I am and have guided me down this long, difficult road of life. I have gone through many trials in these past few years but as I stand here before you, I recognize that there is still much that I must learn and am more willing now than ever to do that which would please you.”

Very good, my Child, a gentle nod from his otherworldy spectre, I am proud of you, for how much you have grown and learned. My greatest apprentice, and my adopted child.[i] A smile again appeared, [i]You follow me well, and for that I shall reward you.

Extending his hand, which being covered by the energetic light seemed to be more human, he rested it on her shoulder.

Kneal before me, child, so I may reward you. This was a true test of trust, and Melkos knew and intended it to be. If she followed faithfully, she would never be the same after this day.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, Siri knelt before Melkos and awaited this reward. There was no fear, no regret, no mistrust for he was now her adopted father and she accepted him. She did not know what it would be that he would bestow on her, but she looked forward to finding out.

Melkos was joyful that she was this faithful, and accordingly, he bestowed upon her her reward in words.

Siri of Earth, I, Melkos Unchanos of the Sith Order of Anagonia, hereby grant you the Title of Sith Overlord, to forever be recognized as the strongest on your Planet, and to forever be seen as a guiding Force within your fledgling Order. Melkos nodded slowly, A-rise, my faithful child, and take heed your responsibilities and power of the Darkness within you.

Siri was surprised that such a reward was bestowed upon her but was grateful never the less. The title of Sith Overlord and her own Order? She pondered the idea in her mind as she rose from the ground. But her thoughts moved elsewhere when she realized that she was different. She closed her eyes and searched for the answers. She soon discovered that she had become even stronger and had a better control over herself. Greater abilities seemed to be appearing too. Was there anything greater than all this?

She opened her eyes and looked over to Melkos. “My father, I thank you for granting me this gift. You will not regret bestowing this upon me.”

Good, my child. A smile again, because soon I shall cease to exist, and you were the first stage of my plan for me to be remembered.

Slowly his form disappated, as did the frozen scenery and bleak atmosphere. His Skeletal form returned under the cloak of Darkness. Melkos seemed to be in a rush to get things done, for in truth he had risked precious time just to comfort his faithful servant. He would speak the rest of the truth to her, before he would leave entirely.

My faithful child, time is short and I must go. Things must be done, situations corrected, and paths restored.[i] His voice seemed to quicken as his form went into eternity, like something crawling back into its hiding place through time itself. [i]I will reveal all to you when I can, for now, be strong! I will come back before I go, I promise-..

And then, time came back to Normal, and Drakomis finished his slow blink. He leaned against the tree and grinned, then shook his head. "Woah.."

Siri watched him leave and could not believe that a being so powerful would just cease to exist. It did not make any sense to her. How could something like that happen? She was about to sigh in sadness but heeded his words that she must be strong.

Before he finally disappeared, she waved and said, “Farewell, my father. I hope we meet again soon.”

And when he was gone, she still watched the place where he left from and thought about all that had happened over the previous few minutes. She was changed now. Not for the worst, but instead was changed for the best.

Drakomis quinted his eyes towards Siri, grinning a bit, then smiling. "You look and sense different, what happened?"

Siri turned around to face Drakomis. If one looked at her, she seemed to be calmer than earlier, more at peace with herself. “You noticed? Well, to be honest, Melkos decided to pay a visit to me.”

"Really?"

Drakomis thought for a moment, the chuckled. Well, here was Melkos interfering with his life again. At least this time he didn't forget anything, which was good because he remembered everything before the DEJA VU moment.

"Thats interesting." He smiled, "I see it did some good."

Siri walked back over to the tree again and sat down. She then nodded her head to Drakomis and smiled. “Yes, it most certainly did.”

Yawning a little, she crossed her legs and leaned back against the tree, but suddenly remembered something. “Oh yes, before I forget to give it back, you seemed to have misplaced this.” She reached her hand inside of her vest and pulled out a long cylindrical object, Drakomis’ lightsaber.

Drakomis grasped the lightsaber, and smiled towards Siri. He placed it back on his belt and nodded towards her as he sat back down. The wind continued to breeze past gently, the smell of Sprint coming back. Drakomis had everything he needed from her now, so leaving would not be a problem anymore.

"Thank you."

Moments later, they were both in Siri’s sports car cruising down the freeway at two-hundred miles per hour. Nothing could ever change her love for all things fast and now the traffic was even more to her liking. Fewer vehicles were around as most of the citizens had already arrived at their workplaces. Of course, now that the driving conditions had changed, she could drive more relaxed and did so as she turned on the cruise control and steered with only one hand.

One could see her eyes now as she glanced over to Drakomis because unlike last time, she had her sunglasses resting on top of her blonde hair. “You know something? Life fascinates me. Every time I grow complacent where I am, it throws me another curveball. Something changes. Something old is taken away. Something new is introduced. You know what I mean?”

"Yea," he said with a smile, "I know exactly what you mean."

Drakomis did, indeed. There were many instances in his life where things could have easily been boring, been simple, been easy, become routine. In fact, he could tell stroeis about it. Yet he could also tell that everytime something did become routine, life would throw him a curveball too. It was fun hitting that curveball, because you never knew if it would become a homerun or a run. Drakomis never had one hit an out during Lifes throws, because if he did he'd be long dead.

Tredging on was his specialty, and he enjoyed hearing other peoples sight to it.

As she searched further on down the freeway, Siri began to see the first exit signs for the space/airport and slowed her car down slightly in order to exit. But she did feel like talking some more on this subject so she drove a little slower than she normally would.

“Of course, this does raise other questions like, if all of this happens, then is it by chance or is there some higher power at work?”

Drakomis shrugged, intrigued by her new question.

"Well," he responded, "I'm not all that sure." He sighed a bit, thinking over it for a second before continuing. "The Force is a questionable thing, mysterious in its ways and therefore having some unusual sentience to it." He raised a finger, "Of course, there is also some God at work, or whatever faith have ye. That could also come into play too." He sighed again, "But I'm not sure. I can say for a fact that I do believe everything has a purpose, so perhaps."

She nodded to his comments. “Very interesting. I assume that you are a part of some faith, correct?”

As they talked, the sports car quickly exited the freeway and passed underneath a large silver arch that was labeled “Welcome to Caprica City International Airport.” To most visitors, the name was misleading because the airport didn’t just offer domestic and international air flights but served the colony worlds and the Corporation’s allies with space travel. One would think that the name would’ve been changed to something that made more sense, wouldn’t it? In this case, everyone seemed to prefer the convenience of saying either CCI or Caprica City International as the alternative, Caprica City Intergalactic Spaceport, just didn’t seem to roll off of the tongue that easy.

Drakomis nodded, "I am, and very devout in that faith. Its mainly hidden from Galactic view because no one ever asks about it." He grinned, noticing the airport.

Finally, almost home. He would enjoy to get back. Unbeknowest to him, when he returned, he would get a suprise. It was the darkest enemy he had ever known, come back to haunt his living life. In this would start his jounry to death, slow and painful. Choices would be made, so critical that he could avoid the slow death, and so crucial that he could die quickly.

But that aside, he sighed happily. "Yea, its a good faith. I like Jedi too, don't get me wrong, but I believe these two forces intwine."

Siri nodded slightly as the sports car passed between the extensive seas of parking lots on its way to the main terminal. “I see.”

She was never one to discuss this topic but this time she decided to go ahead with it and talk. “As for myself, I believe that there is something or perhaps someone out there that controls the universe, but that is as far as it goes. I have searched and studied the various religions in the galaxy seeking for answers to my questions. But none of them are definite which is why I, for the most part, stay away from all matters regarding religion, faith, or whatever one choses to call it.”

"Agreed," he responded, "it is indeed a touchy topic."

He smiled, observing the cars and lots. It was very interesting how large this place was, perhaps twice the size of Novars spaceport. How Northrop-Grumman could handle it must explain its economy.

Siri’s sports car weaved in and out of the tight spaces between the lengthy city buses and much smaller taxi cabs as it made its way through the traffic at the main terminal. At the last minute, she swung the car into a spot directly in front of the main doors. Of course, the parking spot wasn’t really one but was clearly marked off in red stripes that indicated that one could not ever park there, but Siri made her own rules when she drove.

A man dressed in black, obviously a part of airport security, came running out from the terminal yelling, “Miss! Miss! You can’t park there!” But when she got out and looked over the roof of the car at him, his eyes nearly popped out of his head as he realized who he was yelling at. “Crap. Ummm…nevermind.” And he ran back through the doors.

Drakomis grinned and exited the vehicle, waiting for Siri then following her lead. It was amazing how much influence she had here, and more stunning how the security worker looked. He nearly laughed himself silly, but maintained his composer long enough to continue. Looking about at the building, he would not question much.....expect....

"Wonder what my ride looks like here..."

As Drakomis and Siri both entered in through the main sliding doors, they stepped into what had to be one of the largest terminals that the Corporation had ever built. Its one-hundred fifty foot high ceilings were filled with nothing but skylights that shone the bright morning sun down upon the millions of people that passed across the fifteen square acres of floor space each day. Spread out across the terminal were holographic displays that listed each of the incoming and outgoing flights for the next several hours and to make sure that passengers did not miss them, the flights were announced on speakers throughout the terminal. Drakomis and Siri could hear one as soon as they entered. “Flight 878 to Jeruselem is boarding all rows at this time. Flight 878 to Jeruselem is boarding all rows at this time.”

Directly in front of the two was the main security checkpoint, but Siri did not feel the need to go through it as both were carrying weapons, especially her so she just led Drakomis around it as the security personnel just watched and said nothing.

Out on the main floor were people hurrying to and from their flights, but most were not in such a rush as a late flight was extremely rare at Caprica City International. Many nodded to the two as they walked and said, “Good Morning, Madam Chairwoman, President Reign.” Of course, this startled most leaders when they visited because they were used to being hounded by either the press or the regular people. But in Northrop-Grumman, the citizens were used to the leaders walking amongst them and never really thought too much about it. They always did show respect and often were able to strike up a general conversation with one of the leaders.

At times when Siri went walking in one of the city parks, people would walk up to her and ask her about a technique in sword fighting that they were trying to learn. She always was glad to lend a hand wherever she could. Jack was the same way. Children loved him and often asked him to tell them a story about his days as a part of SG-1. He would sit down on a bench and gladly tell them about it.

Drakomis was very amazed by the structure itself, especially inside. His eyes darted here and there, trying to take everything in all at once. He was especially suprised at how vocal and opened these people where, no cameras mostly and absolutley no press. He was amazed, and even carried on a few coversations about his skills as a Jedi, and his powers. The young ones would have the most questions, some very direct. But even with the older ones, he would still enjoy the words.

Observing Siri and her ways with her people, he was glad to see her so renowned. It was truly an interesting site to see such, for even in his Homeworld things wheren't this peaceful.

Smiling as he looked to the holographic charts, he never did see "Novar" up there. Maybe this was truly a private transport, but either way he couldn't wait to get home.

"Your very open," he said to Siri as they walked, "Something I admire when concerning the People."

Siri smiled and replied, “Thank you.”

After a moment of walking, the two finally reached the white and red striped ticket counter. One of the first things that people noticed here was the apparent lack of variety in the selection of airlines as there was only one that serviced all of the Corporation’s airports and spaceports, Trans World Airlines. It of course was fifty-one percent owned by the Corporation and the rest was held by private investors.

The red-haired woman at the counter greeted Drakomis and Siri. “Good morning, how may I help you today?”

Of course, Siri led the way in talking. “Uh, yes. My friend here would like a ticket to Novar, one-way.”

“Class preference?”

“First, if that doesn’t work, then the baggage compartment will be fine.” She grinned to Drakomis.

“Very good, and how will you be paying for this?”

“Credit.” She pulled her national identification card out of her pocket and handed it over to the woman, who quickly ran in through the scanner and gave it back to Siri.

“Looks like everything is cleared.” The woman looked to Drakomis. “I need to see some identification please.”

Siri took another card out of her pocket and handed it over to the surprised woman.

“Now, one last thing. Could you put your finger inside this.” She nodded to the device that rested on top of the counter and when Drakomis had done that, she smiled and handed him his ticket. “Everything checks out. Have a nice flight, sir, and thank you for flying TWA.”

As they both began to walk away, Siri handed him what apparently was his own identification card.

"Interesting," he sad as he grasped it, "I like it."

Placing it quickly into his coat, he smiled and nodded towards Siri, bowing his head slightly.

"I take it I can enter Northrop with this at any time?" He grinned, following her with each step.

Siri nodded to him. “Yes, anytime you feel like it. Now since you have one, technically you hold dual-citizenship as you are now a citizen of Northrop-Grumman, non-taxpaying of course.”

She paused for a moment as they walked then spoke again. “That counts as an id card because for one thing, it has your DNA in it. Also, it’s your credit card, driver’s license, and security pass which you are at B-level. That means you can pretty much go anywhere freely but two places, and those are the Cheyenne Mountain facilities and the Executive Tower at Centennial Plaza.”

"Makes sense," Drakomis replied with a smile. "Glad to have some citizenship in another Galactic Brethrens nation. Makes the Brethren part more..." he paused for a moment to think for a word, then spoke, "...close."

He smiled a bit, the nodded, confident he was welcomed here forevermore. He would return, he sensed it, very much so. Drakomis was just glad he got the chance to basically become one with his Brethren. That was what the Comrade Brethren Ideology was all about in his Nation, derived from past Socialis/Communist Ideologies which weeded out all the basic flaws....almost...

Thinking about that made him kinda laugh, remembering back in the day. "Yea, yea...Comrade Brethren we are forever-more...I remember those days when everyone marched in parades...so much glory."

Siri smiled and nodded. “We still have those kinds of large parades twice a year for our anniversaries: July 16th for the founding of the Corporation in 1939 and December 28th for the establishment of the nation in 2003. It’s always a big celebration especially the latter one since it falls right in between Christmas and New Years.” She started to chuckle. “All businesses close down, and it becomes a weeklong party. That’s something that everyone should experience.”

As the two entered into another terminal, the one designated for spaceflights, several long white passenger vessels with the traditional red striping could be seen through the large floor-to-ceiling windows. They were similar in shape to the modern day supersonic Concorde jet but were obviously constructed to be much larger in order to accommodate passengers on very long flights. They were considered by most people to be a flying hotel as the first class passengers had their own rooms and other amenities.

This terminal also had the holographic displays and the first one on the top of the list was “Novar, Anagonia -- Now Boarding.”

Siri turned to Drakomis and pointed it out, “How’s that for timing?”

"Good timing," he nodded as he would start to follow the directions on the holographic display, lokking for his terminal. "Very good timing."

Looking at Siri, he smiled. "We've had quite an experience, no? I hope to meet up with you sometime in the future."

“Oh, it’s always quite an interesting experience when you show up.” She nodded and spoke again. “And I know we’ll meet again some time in the future. I am certain.”

The End, Because I Said So!