Trejiuvanat

Also if you give the alliance (or whatever you replace that with) the DS, in tactical the Empire (or whatever you replace that with) will strill control it.

She was barefoot and alone. The tiles on the floor were cold, and her small feet quickly jumped over them, as if jumping from tile to tile was a dangerous game. She giggled when she noted that she had missed the corridor she wanted to take. She would need to walk some steps back and then take a right. She knew the right path through the near empty corridors very well. It was the route she most commonly used to visit Papa in his office. The huge great office of the Viceroy of Aldaraan. The little girl blinked, as if waking up from a dream. She was home, though her senses where those of a child, the mind of the mature Leia was seeing thorugh them. A dream, yes. She was dreaming of her childhood, of Alderaan and her father. Luke said that Jedi rarely dream, an experience she had lived fully in her childhood, and had often wondered about it. She remembered the night she had confronted her father about a nightmare she had had. It had been a warm night of summer, it had been the Day of the Grand Alderaanian Gathering officers of all places of the Empire would come there and march, as they had done for years, even back in the Old Republic. Her father had told her that some people never dreamed because they never were fully asleep, that some part of them was always in touch with everything. A beautiful metapher of the Force. Leia smiled. Only years after that night she understood why she had had a nightmare. Darth Vader had been there, and she had felt his darkness, his silent hatred for Alderaan. For Bail Organa, a man who had been close to his dear Padme. Leia blinked again, as she realized that she was reliving that night again through this dream. She quickly walked back and ran to her fathers office, not with the careless steps of her young childlike body, but with the urgent need of the older Leia, wondering what she might find. Her small child-hands opened the door, and took a peek inside. She could perceive two people inside. Just as she had years earlier, when she had inadvertedly spied on a conversation between her father -Bail Organa- and another man, a Jedi. Instead of entering and joining her father she simply stayed outside. Now the Jedi, Trej Ocas his name had just ascertained itself in her tongue, was there looking as he had looked then - and opposed to him was Ulan Shai. Contrasting directly with the Royal Alderaanian ambience. Leia's heart sank slightly, part of her had desperately wanted to see her father once more, instead she focused on the conversation. *** "Hello there," the ethereal voice of Trej Ocas manifested itself. Ulan blinked into existence, or rather non-existence. His essence had been materialized into a place of beauty. It was wide and white, with armonic curves and shapes, that seemed to capture the essence of life. Ulan could not help but be enticed by it, unlike the cold Coruscant and the humanly atmosphere that was Corellia, a stronghold of peace and balance, the gentler side of humanity. One that even welcomed a Yuuzhan Vong. The room was circular with a wide door on the south and a crystal window that strectched from the northern side to the east. Already in the horizon, past a small lake surrounded by short trees the whitish aura appearing amidst the black night suggested that the sun would rise soon. "What is this?" "What was this, rather." Trej Ocas's voice came wistful. "This was my home. Now it is a memory, a dream captured in a few minds." He stood moved around the circular office, from the wooden door he went to the window, and Ulan's attention followed him. On the opposite side, a pair gentle child hands opened the door to peek inside. Little fingers caressing the warm wood, a little brown eye taking look inside. "Why I am here?" Ulan Shai asked carefully, there was much he did not understand. Less of all his role in this galactic plot. "A question I should ask you," Trej Ocas answered. Ambiguous and enigmatic responses was all this appearances could offer. The human spectre prosigued. "Partly I have been summoned here by your own uncertainty. The shadow of doubt is deeply engraved in your heart." His eyes widened and were deadlocked on Ulan Shai's. "A shadow yourself placed." Ulan looked at the floor. The spectre's words were not new, long hours had he spent in a careful introspective of what was in his heart. He had felt changed during his capture. But he could recall some scarces episodes, and none of them seemed the full truth. He recalled torture, and struggling, he recalled his capture in which he had killed about two dozen warriors. He knew that he had been touched by darkness, the Timeless One was to be blamed for that. "Is he really?" Trej asked. Ulan frowned. It was not new that Trej could pick up his thoughts, it was the question that made him frown. "Are you saying that I am shamed with Darkness. Is the ruin of Zonama Sekot to be burden for me to carry?" "That is for you to determine." He touched the glass with his hand. "The Timeless One is old and cunning, his mere presence is seductive, enticing. The Dark Side is terribly strong in him, how could any of us resist the lure?" Trej's eyes grazed Leia's curious stare, he was aware she was there. HE had probably even summoned her there. Ulan tried to answered. "He... I..." He swallowed. "I cannot remember." Trej put both hands on Ulan's shoulders. "You must, Ulan Shai. Your body has healed the scars of torture, when will your mind and heart heal them too? Are you not a Jedi? Can you not pierce into your own soul?" Ulan took a step back from the ghostly presence and remained silent. The Yuuzhan Vong had no doubt of his physical strength. His frame though small in comparison to other Yuuzhan Vong was still powerful. More than once duels had been decided by physical prowess. With the Force as an ally he had defeated two dozen Rapora, before he had been captured. He had resisted torture, hunger and solitude. And he had escaped. Or had he? He remembered the hurried escape during the battle of Bakura. But could a person capable of moving a moon with the power of his mind not stop him? Lay your questions aside, Ulan. He breathed again and in his mind formed an image that was a complete certainty. "I know I would resist torture. I would not give in." There was a smile on Trej Ocas. "A solid first step, Ulan Shai, you have questions that will be answered, but they must be answered by yourself. One at the time." Ulan then vanished. Probably to wake up from the dream. *** "You too have questions, have you not, your Highness?" Trej Ocas clearly spoked and knelt. The child Leia opened the door wide open. "Some questions have waited decades for an answer." "And after all that time the answer is nothing but an apology." Trej raised his head and outstretched his hand to kiss the Princess's hand. Perfect Alderaanian protocol. "I failed both of your fathers." Behind him, like still holographs two other specters appeared. One of them the old Anakin Skywalker, the man who had died twice. Once killed by his darker self, and then when he gave up his life for his children. Next to him, Bail Organa, seated as he had been the last time she had seen him. The he had been worried and a frown had occupied his face, instead his face was passive and calm. "I saw you once, I was introduced to you, but never knew who you were." Leia said sadly. "My life would have been a forbidden topic. I was once Jedi Master from Alderaan, powerful enough to face Darth Vader and survive." Leia's eyes widened in surprise, could a Jedi like that had been simply ignored and dismissed by history. "It was the night the temple was attacked. I was near the hangar, on the exterior wall. In the most desperate moment I tried to confront Vader, our blades clashed and I jumped back. I misstep and fell off the catwalk. I fell into the endless pit that is Coruscant. Somehow I survived, but I dismissed my past, and hid as a beggar. Coruscant is, and ever will be a sea of shadows. "One day, I saw the light and remembered what I was like, so I began to take a hard road to return to ALderaan, there is little to be told of that. I could not return there -here- and assuming the role of a guardian for you, I could not join the Rebellion. Something else called me, if you, and your brother represent the future of the galaxy, I had to take part in removing part of a dangerous past. I did not know it then and probably not until the end did I comprehend what it implied. It seems I too have failed." "What do you mean?" Leia asked. "Had I suceeded, I would not be here. I would have communed with the Force. And I have become part of it to some extent. There is something about the Rapora that has brought me back to life." He looked at her and gave her an enigmatic smile. "The Rise and Fall of Anakin Skywalker has had more deep implications in the nature of the Force than you could ever imagine." Leia said nothing. Those were things that would be better handled by her brother. "You are both meant to deal with them, your Highness," Trej whispered. "Perhaps, you just like young Ulan must learn who you really are." He waved the comment away, realizing that Leia needed not his guidance, she was not as fragile as the Yuuzhan Vong. She had weathered worse, and had taken her own place in the Jedi Order, but still the specter's voice stinged her heart. There was some truth in there. "Lastly, your Highness. I want to give you a gift, the Force is remarkably strong in this planet, and there are many residual memories here," he said pointing to his heart and then his head. "And here," pointing to Leia's heart. "Jedi rarely dream, because they can rarely be cut off from the Force, they are always in a vigil. I give you this dream to be reunited, if only momentarily, with those you love. "May the Force be with you." He said and disappeared. As he disappeared other figures materialized into existence. The apparently still spectres of Bail Organa and Anakin Skywalker began to move and talk, and there was also the specter of Anakin Solo, her lost child. In the room, where also Padme Amidala, Luke's Master Yoda, Chewbacca, Mon Mothma and Obi-Wan Kenobi greeted her. "I forgive you, Trej Ocas." She said, but her voice was broken. With glassy eyes she rapidly ran into Bail Organa's arms. She could feel his warmth, although she knew well that Bail Organa was a memory, a spectre. "I've missed you!" *** Han Solo woke up to the sound of a silent sobbing, and he knew it was Leia. She had rolled the blanket over her body and lay on their bed in fetal position. Han put a gentle yet strong hand on her back, as she used to do to him when nightmares of lost friends plagued him. "Leia." He spoke softly, and a shiver ran across Leia's back. She had been crying in her sleep. He noticed tears had been shed, and dried in her cheeks. How long had she cried?, he wondered. Leia awakened, and blinked twice as she looked at her husband. "Han", she said under her breath and buried her face in his chest. "Bad dream, huh?" She lifted her head, and smiled at him. Though it seemed a sad smile, it was filled with energy and juvenile radiance. "No Han, it was the best dream I have ever had."

Last Unicorn, that was suggested earlier might be a good choice, as could be The Flight of Dragons.

"It was not the visit you expected?" Soontir Fel asked quietly. Oreton breathed before answering that question. As if he hadn't had enough trouble with the Moffs, Vana's situation was a tricky one. "This is not the welcome I was expecting to give her, no," Oreton replied slightly annoyed. "And it has definitely taken a direction I did not want to see happening." "That she is lying?" Stent asked cautiously. The Chiss had not yet formed a complete criteria of who the Grand Admiral was. "No, that we know she is lying." Oreton spoke succintly. "Had the tests been non-conclusive we - I mean - I" he corrected himself, " would have been forced to decide what to do. "I would have sent her off to recover away, away from the Capital. Somewhere in the country, with an intelligence agent or two babysitting her, making sure she did nothing suspicious for a while." "And now?" Stent insisted. "Now I am forced to keep her here. Here or in any other military installation." "Not exactly the best place to keep a traitor," Fel answered. "Much less one high enough in the Imperial foodchain. That's why the Chiss used to strand them near their borders." "I'm still not sure she is a traitor." Oreton told him. "I thought the tests were clear." "Too clear for my taste," Oreton grumbled. "We have seen the Rapora outsmart us before. They even outsmarted Thrawn. Wouldn't they expect us to check her when she was returned?" "There is something of Thrawn in you," Fel said, and there was a quiet snort made by Stent. "Now that we have peeled away the first layer of falseness. Is she one of them, or one of us?" "There are so many variables, I cannot tell," Oreton simply said. "The bond of friendship does not want to even admit the possibility of treason in her, the historical reality of espionage and infiltration knows full well that she would make the perfect agent. And Ysanne Isard and Lusankya, made it abundantly clear that anyone could be a sleeper agent without them even knowing." "Decisions must be taken," Stent frowned. "Medical tests already reveal that she is in almost optimal medical shape. Hospitals, even Military Hospitals are not known for their high security. She could be already moving her pieces." "I will sign the order and have her transferred to a more secure location." "Not the easiest thing to do," Fel softly added. "Incarcerating a friend." "Business is business," Oreton bleakly replied. "And we have plenty of business to make today." *** A shortlived smile was drawn on Oreton's face, as recalled Pellaeon retelling of how Daala had unified the Empire. Oreton's hand idly touched the could metal under the table. His thin fingers touched an empty leather holster, though no weapon was there. Also the hole left by the removal of some sort of computer terminal. Probably a trigger for locking the doors, and filling the room with gas. "Apparently the Grand Admiral finds our bickering amusing," Moff Crawal said in her typical snappish tone. This raised some angry glares from the other Moffs in the room, the oneliner tossed for the sake of disrupting arguments. Oreton knew not whether to thank Crawal or to curse her. "Or am I mistaken?" Crawal asked. Oreton ignored the stingy remark of Crawal and tried to bring the original topic of discussion into the fray. "As has been said time and over again, we are in a crisis. What we need are solutions, not scapegoats." Oreton insisted. "We must plot a course of action to quickly recover, and." Pause. "And, that will prove manageable in the long run." "We are not as blind and maleable as your officers," -"Nor as your allies" an anonymous voice spat.- "but you cannot come to us asking for solutions. Because there simply is not short term solution for this, you cannot expect us to pay for new toys for you, after we were forced to relocate half the Remnant." "I am not demanding a solution by tomorrow morning, nor am I demanding, all of our resources to be placed in military build-up, though the majority will be." "What will you spend the rest on? Building schools? Retirement homes for the old?" Moff Flennic laughed aloud. "The Rapora are definitely moving towards Garos IV, which will effectively cut us off from the Galactic Alliance-" "We were always better off without them," another Moff interrupted. "I hope you do recall the our main source for foodstuffs are not Imperial worlds but rather imports from Alliance-worlds." Oreton finished. "I do not diminish the importance of Garos IV, and I think we are well aware of the implications of its fall. But we -we as an Empire- cannot afford another Ord Mantell." Moff Remaz politely explained. Oreton nodded slowly. "I am fully aware that a military operation is out of orders, we do not have the ships nor manpower to spare. In fact I am considering to back off from the immediate vicinity of Garos IV." There was a short silence that was cut by the icy tone of Moff Flennic. "I do hope you have an alternative." "An alternative of sorts, which can be helpful on the short run," Oreton paused. "I have made some initial contact with the Corporative Presidents of the Corporate Sector, and with some of teh representatives of the Galactic Alliances, and we can use an alternative route through Corporate Space to bring the much required foodstuffs. Of course all for a price." Crawal rolled her eyes. "Baros, you now better than us that we are bankrupt." "Which is why the Corporate Sector has made a particular proposal to us. They will allow the food convoys to go freely through their space, if we relocate a third of our shipyards to Corporate Space and grant them a third of our production time in those shipyards." Oreton braced himself for the retialiary responses of the Moff Council. "A ninth? Of our already meager production?" "A ninth of our full military production? That is outrageous!" Similar comments were vented explosively by the assembled Moffs. Remaz looked at Oreton calmly. "I trust this offer has not been accepted." "Not yet," Oreton answered loud enough for all to hear. "I have made calculations on how our production would be affected and the implications of the removal of the facilities. IT would be a setback for our military build-up, on the facilities removed from Yaga Minor are in pretty bad shape and not being used, and we cannot spread the fleet thinner to protect a deep-space installation. We could ask the CSA to commit part of their fleet to defend the shipyards, which would also be at a safe distance from the frontline." "It is an indulging offer, considering how profit driven the CSA is, perhaps they do see the Rapora as a threat as well?" Crawal asked. "Perhaps, the thing is that there are alternatives, and just like nine years ago, the alternatives must be found outside our borders." Oreton sternly said. "Perhaps they are," Flennic murmured softly. "Perhaps they are." He cleared his throat. "Well, Oreton let us discuss this proposal, you have not yet saved the Empire. And personally I don't think you can. But we must keep it floating a while longer." The Moff Council, Oreton noted, followed the mood of Flennic, it had been subdued momentarily, but Oreton could not entirely fathom Flennic's intentions. But the most serious opposition would come for him. Privately Oreton sighed. And we have not even come to the Dorja Incident, yet.

As long as it doesn't become Ord Mantell all over again..

Adrían Goizueta - Oda al Niño y la Liebre

That or corrupted files are just normal for Microcrap.

That's a race I wouldn't bet on...

I never understood why sparks would flyout of a polyester suit.

I think it was programmed in VB rather than in C++...

Knowing certain feline, it probably is the other way round. On the board of milleniumfalcon.com (I think it was there) there's a thread filled with scenes-turned-gif, without too much color loss. pretty useful for inserting felines and other evil creatures inbetween.

http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/589/rayos31rm.gif

Careful. Corran Horn walked casually through the dark and damp alley behind Treasure Ship Row. Draped in a dark, torn cloak and his face concealed behind a hood, he would not stand out in the hostile environment. He controlled every step too seem frail and disoriented, like an old beggar that is looking for a corner where to fall and sleep. The smugglers and other low-lifes ignored him at best, those that noticed him simply shooed him away. A poor, old human was a sickening sight for most of them. There was one particular person who had effectively noticed him, it was after all the person Corran had come looking for. This person was doing his best to ignore Corran's presence, but Corran could bide his time. There was something else going on in this dark streets. What is it Valin? That you cannot come and say your father hello. The Corellian Jedi knew these streets well, even if the facade of the decaying building had changed over the years he could still tell the street he was in, and where it would take him. From the course taken, Corran could tell that there was someone else involved. Another prey for a hunter. A prey that was being unsuspectedly led into a dead-end. Corran smiled privately. Valin knew these streets well. But not too well. Valin was playing his game well, locating himself in a position that would potentially cut off the exits for his prey, and was doing well in leading his prey into a dead-end, the dark alley of Murderer's Cage, dubbed like that by CorSec officers too long ago. A dead-end that did not seem like one until you were trapped. Most law enforcement officers were drilled into learning all such locations, and thiefs quickly tried to learn how to get out of such dead-ends. In time they had discovered an escape from the Cage. It was a carefully guarded secret, known only too a few select elites of the underground world, and it had come to him through means of Booster Terrik. These particular sector, just like most of Coronet had dozen of secret entrances to the Selonian tunnel underneath the surface. Some criminal had probably paid some Selonian to open another clandestine entrace in the Cage. Corran looked around trying to remember where the closes entrance. There were three humans near the entrance, smugglers making a dubious transaction to some cartel representative or what-not. They were too close to the entrance, and would surely notice him if we tried to open it. Taking them out would consume precious few seconds. So he drew on the Force. The smuggler saw the old frail human, disoriented make his way into the alley. The old man stopped and began to cough. It was dry, and loud. The smuggler could clearly see that the old man was coughing blood, but their business was far more important than a dying beggar. The man did not even look at them for help, but turned around to vanish behind a corner. Then there was another cough and then the sound of a weight collapsing on the floor. Dead, they thought. Sooner or later someone would remove the body from the street, probably before he began to rot and smell, but by then the smugglers would be long gone. Just after they finished the transaction. Corran smiled as he closed the entrance behind him, weak-minded fools had offered no resistance to his illusion. But again, even Luke Skywalker had been fooled by him. Already underground Corran force-sped away to the tunnel's exit near the Cage. Within seconds he was there, and promptly, but quetly opened the secret entrance, and closed it behind him. Right on time. A shadowy figure entered the Cage, scared and suspicious. Corran moved into a shadow and waited. The hunted did know about the secret exit, and began to look for it, always sparing a glance at the Cage's entrance. His hunter was about to appear. "Give up," Valin's voice called from the alley's entrance. "You cannot escape." "I can and I will," the bandit's crispy voice retorted, he had a few seconds to open the secret entrance and make his exit. "He is right." Corran spoke from behind him. The bandit jumped in suprise, he had wasted his few seconds. Two lightsabers were simultaneously lit in the alley. The bandit, did not struggle nor attempt to escape. Obediently he tossed his blaster to the ground, and allowed Valin to put stun-cuffs on him. Father and son walked out of that sector of the city with their unwilling companion in tow, they were not bothered on their way out by anyone. Two Jedi were a force to be respected in these parts. And the legends and spook tales about the Horn family were wide-spread. Out of treasure ship row, Valin called up a Public Safety Service patrol to take their prisoner away. As soon as the Police speeder left Valin embraced his father. "It's been a while," he said emotively. "And thanks for your help, had he gone into the tunnel I doubt I could have followed him." "Thank your grandpa, he's the one that shared with me about that Selonian tunnel exit." Corran said. "I would," Valin smile turned sour. "If I knew where he and Mom are." "So nothing turned up?" Corran asked. "Not so far," Valin said. "Booster's good, he has the contacts, and the experience. And Mom's careful enough to clear all anything that might had slipped Booster." Corran shook his head slightly. "You, my son, are the fourth Horn generation to be fooled by the Terrik bag of tricks." "I hope he will ahve something to work with soon, the man we jsut caught -Rejiek- a well-known murdered and escaped convict claims that he overheard something about the Venture's location." "That doesn't seem too trustworthy," Corran frowned. "I know," Valin nodded, "which is why I wound up chasing him to get him back in jail. But, he said that he heard a song about a red star destroyer, by the Sewers." "A song?" Corran paused. If the dark alleys were a home for low-lifes and marked criminals, the Sewers was called by those that had been shooed away from the dark alleys. Folks no one wanted to have anything to do. An ideal place for the Ryn. "Seen any Ryn, recently?" Corran asked. "Perhaps they have a song for us."

I'd guess what's left of them, are licking their wounds in the Redoubt.

Or he got it off the foreign covers at theforce.net... Jap covers look better than the standard US ones.

Hints are given in VoTF and Survivor's Quest...

We do not tolerate cracking nor anything of the like. Topic Closed.

The first more than anything, reminds me of everyday's politics.

It will take even more to get here to the tropics. But again, I don't like most things related to the Roman empire...

A bigger party is reserved for the 10K.

The small commitive decided to walk, the day was dark and gray and pillars of dark smoke could be seen in the distance. A cold afternoon threatened by inminent rainfall. Windy too. A climate unappropriate for the small speeder Jacen had brought. Halfways to their destinations fat drops began to drop, followed by the strong incessant fall of rain. With the towering protection of the Bora trees gone, gusts of wind hit the walking party hard. Han felt Leia shiver, although he knew well that she could use the Force to lessen her susceptibility. His son walked up front guiding them, partly trying to serve as a windbreaker for his parents Han suspected. Or at least trying to create a field with the Force to shield them from the cold and the rain. A man that had endured torture at the hands of Darth Vader, the cold was not even halfways to excite his nerve ends as strongly as Vader's machine had. But that had been too long ago, and Han had grown old. Now Han felt the cold in his bones, still from a lifetime of experiences he knew well enough to mask the cold he was feeling. Only Ulan Shai who walked in the back of their group kept silent. He complained not about the cold nor the wind. Han did not need Jedi powers to tell that there was something greater overwhelming him. Something far stronger that affected him deeper than the cold. What that was, Han could not tell, but his suspicions grew the closer they were to the small recint where Jabitha awaited them. Deep silence reigned as Han, Leia, Jacen and Ulan entered the what? Han could not define the place they were in. Warehouse? Cottage? Temple? A combination of sorts he decided. It was not as small as it had seemed on the outside, but there were stairs leading to undergroung levels. They were in some kind of antechamber, but even here in a small hall no bigger than their old Maranai Apartment suits had been at least two dozen Ferroans lay on the ground, keeping warm. Some were singing softly, and some other were weeping. Han could not blame them. They on the other hand could blame them. About ten years ago, Luke and Mara had robbed this people of their peace and seclusion. Brought them back to win a war and then leave them in peace, but this time with the burden of the Yuuzhan Vong upon them. Some Ferroans did not dissimulate their disdain for Leia and Han, and especially Jacen and Ulan, as their hard stares penetrated them. Partly Han hoped that Jabitha wouldn't run them through lots of corridors with people hating them, it was a cheap psychological trick to apply and one unnecessary at that. Leia tightened her grip on his hand, explain through that simple gesture that it was not the case. There was sepulted scorn in the minds of the Ferroans, but not in the mind of the majority nor in the mind of the Magister. Their bond without the need of Jedi magics was a strong and clear as their children's. Han smiled to himself. Jabitha led them as quickly to the lower level, avoiding whenever possible to pass through the refugees. The last level was the fourth, it was smaller than the other, a privilege reserved to the Magister. And to some few select others in the favor of the Magister. Already Tahiri and Harrar were there, both in meditative positions removed from the physical world. One lost in his faith and religion, his lips murmered prayers to Yun-Yuuzhan, to Yuuzhan'tar, summoning Sekot back, the other trying to reach out through the Force, like tendrils that penetrated the planet's crust seeking to it's Core. Finding where Sekot was. Jabitha grazed them with a soft look and with a smoothh movement guided the group into a corridor that diverged from the main widearched hallway. It led to several few rooms which Leia guessed where the Jedi's quarters, Jabitha led them to the end of the corridor. There a roughly wookie-sized door opened and Jabitha explained that were the quarters assigned to them. "They are not roomy, but they will keep you warm. These are refuge for ourselves when travelling the void. Not meant for luxury nor to be used for long. As a Magister I feel ashamed to offer you so little." "It is perfect, Jabitha. We thank you." Leia said and she and Han vanished inside. "Ulan Shai, you are a guess to us. We can offer you quarters like the ones other Jedi use. Your old master has just vacated one, but we have some few meant to house Yuuzhan Vong, a spatious one meant for Nas Choka is now vacant as well." Jabitha smiled a fragile smile. "Which will it be?" Jacen looked intensely at them, expecting the answer to give him some insight. Ulan was for many an unknown variable. Something had happened to him during his capture at the hands of the Rapora. Something had touched him, tainted him. Whatever it was it had given him power. Power as vicious as an ion storm had embraced him, if it broke loose it would be unrestrainable. Somehow that power was barely tangible, as if something was holding it at bay. Jacen suspected that the young Yuuzhan Vong had not noted it, the Yuuzhan Vong's spirit had escaped that fate. There was a hint of sadness and worry, natural considering the circumstance. But there had been more worry in her mother's heart, and she had not hidden it from Jacen. She had kept Ulan close to her and Han, she had felt the power, and she had shuned it away. As if something about it made her suddenly afraid. "I would be honored to occupy Master Rar's former chambers," Ulan Shai answered. More Jedi than Yuuzhan Vong. Why? Jacen wondered. Was he shielding himself from the pain and loss that affected him as a Yuuzhan Vong. Did he mean to channel his sorrow into compassion. The Jedi's way? Or was he fleeing his own nature? Warrior-born, warrior-bred Ulan Shai. Your blood expects you to charge into battle. But you fear it, don't you? Perhaps you do know of that taint, that power. Will I be able to solve the puzzle you are, Ulan Shai. Will I solve it in time. Days, weeks, months. You are faced with a choice and you answer in riddles. An oase of certainty had to exist in the desert of turmoil, and he would be the one to find it. Or so Jacen hoped.

That's what I have, HW2 won't run there. It will give you a error message when you run the game. For a good video card you might be willing to spend at least $150, if you want one on the long run think in the $300 range. Check http://newegg.com you may find something there for your needs. (Get at least something with 128MB)

An interesting idea. That era of the SW Universe has never been fully explained. There is (I was surprised when I found that on google) a wiki page on the Rakatan Empire that does identify it as the Infinite Empire. Link But there's not much information to be found there or elsewhere. The Ssiruuvi are more reptilian than birdlike, so you could even built in the possibility that either the Ssi-ruuvi are descendants of lost Rapora, or descendants of similar genetical experiments by the Rakata. There's also Centerpoint and the Killiks, Xim the Conqueror and some other few references to that era, but there is no real unity there. A short story of the falling apart in that era would be an interesting piece of knowledge, and even a good prologue for the Rapora storyline.

Found this: http://www.hbo.com/rome/?ntrack_para1=insidehbo1_image

[Palpy mode]Good...Good! I can feel your anger. Strike him down with all your anger and your journey to the Dark Side of the Force will be complete [/Palpy mode]