Our Only Hope

[Amz]

​

Teyla’s chest rose and fell, seemingly deaf to everything else around her except her own breath. Beyond seeing, beyond hearing. She was just another senseless being, in a senseless galaxy.

Her throat cleared, gaze still staring straight out the viewport at the Lithios docking bay. “...I'll go bring Arekk, then.” she said quietly, her

vocal cords strained. Few words had been shared between Damon and Teyla the entire trip from Naboo to Lithios...as it was hard trying to hold a conversation with someone when you couldn’t look them in the eye.

She sagged in her seat, brown eyes dull and unfocused as she removed herself from the pilot's harness and rose. Leather boots echoed step for step down the hall of the Revenge, bouncing off the durasteel flooring and eventually down the loading ramp. Finding that each step forward was more difficult than the last.

She had been convinced in the throes of labor that childbirth would be the death of her, she’d suffered and been sore after the delivery of her twins, but what she felt now was much worse.

It was every mother’s nightmare. Every father’s nightmare…

When her eyes closed it was all she could see, trapped with that moment of horror. Damon dropped to his knees, his head on her shoulder with his thick arms locked around her as her body rocked and shook. Gasping, heaving, fighting for breath through a throat clogged with grief.

Where had her children been taken? Were they alive? Were they well? The Force had connected her to them in a way she'd never thought possible. She had felt every movement, every moment of joy, every fear, every small development as they grew inside her womb. But wherever they’d been taken, it was somewhere beyond her reach. Where she could not comfort them, could not banish the shadows. Dread spread through her.

The echoing of her boots ceased.

“Arekk…" again, her voice sounded hoarse. She softly cleared it, "Thanks for meeting us like this,” her lips did not curl with the usual smile she greeted friends with. Her face was red and blotched, and her eyes bloodshot. Had she been sleeping? “We don't have time to stay, or the time to mince words with you. My children were taken, ripped from my arms moments after they were born. They are alive somewhere..." she hoped. "And I can't do nothing. I have...I have to get them back. Every minute is a minute closer to losing them forever, so we need to leave now. I understand we are asking a lot of you to drop everything here, but we have no one else and you know the pain of losing a child better than anyone I know...Please...will you help us?"

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[member="Arekk"] [member="Damon Riggs"]

 

[Damon Riggs]

Planet: Lithios​

Current Mood: Numb​

w. [member="Teyla Ee'everwest"] | [member="Arekk"]​

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Riggs felt nothing. He wished he could feel anything, even the hurt and pain that somehow one of the midwives had taken their twins. Twins which Teyla had wisely waited to tell Damon about as he was already intimidated about whether he was going to be a good father. Several of the Ee'everwest family had been convinced he was not good enough for Teyla, and this situation only reinforced those thoughts. What made it all sleeplessly unbearable was the fact Teyla could not even look at him.[/FONT]

Did she blame him for this?

Damon took in a slow, deep breath through his nostrils and sighed as Teyla told him she would go and get Arekk. Normally they would have gone together, but that was something else. The kidnapping had created some kind of tension between them that Riggs did not have a solution for. He was exhausted, angry with himself, and frustrated that they needed to ask Arekk for help. One thing could not be said though. Riggs was not arrogant enough to think that they could do this alone. Humility did not always come as clean and righteous as it sounded. There were times it was attached with a painful price, and Riggs was paying it now.

He waited to get up out of his seat until the sound of her boots echoing down the corridor ended. They were surviving off caf, and if they were going to keep going, they were going to need more. Riggs headed back to the galley to start a fresh pot. As he reached for the pot his hand slipped and the glass broke on the counter, cutting his hand.

"Damn!"

Wrapping the wound, Riggs started to pick up the broken glass and whether it was his exhaustion, the pain, or he finally had the push he needed to feel again, Damon broke down on the floor and started to sob.

 

[Arekk]

Ethos City, Lithios, The Meissa System​

"One thing you could count on: you push a man too far, and sooner or later he’d start pushing back."
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[member="Teyla Ee'everwest"] ~ [member="Damon Riggs"]​

​

This was not how Arekk expected his day to start at all, a very much familiar sensation that had been haunting him for years seemed to have resurfaced from the depths of his mind. The demons had come to hunt him in his thoughts, images of Atefeh and Jyn being taken away from his grasp without being able to do nothing. It was living hell and now it was Teyla and Damon's turn.

Disbelief. All of this was a dream, maybe? This couldn't be happening to them, the fallen Jedi thought. Who could ever harm an innocent child and take them away from their parents, bring such chaos into someone's life? It made Arekk's blood boil just thinking about it since he had been in the same position before, the pain of losing a child (and his wife) was too much to bear that he even considered to extinguish his existence.

They had to be found safe and sound, even if that meant going into the depths of hell itself to bring them back to both Teyla and Damon. He couldn't save Atefeh but there was this reedeming opportunity to bring his friend's children from wherever they were, it wasn't late, he knew that much.

"You don't even have to ask me, Teyla." Arekk said such with an impressive confidence, to let her know that he wasn't going to back away. "I could not save Tefie but your children will be back in your arms. You've got my word, okay? I've got my gear here with me, just point the way and let's bring them home."

No time to think, just act. The sooner they parted Lithios, the bigger the chances were of finding them.

​

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[Amz]

Teyla blinked as Arekk answered, her head still spinning as she ran through all of the ‘what if’ scenarios.

If she hadn’t left the settlement on Kinoone and kept her head down, she would have been alone, but neither would she have dragged the innocent into this.

If she hadn’t let her guard down, her children might still be in her arms. Damon would be a whole man.

To believe that she could be happy…

That despite everything in her past, it was alright to be.

It had been a long time since the particular shadow of her past had darkened her life, despite every instinct telling her that it was approaching. Telling her that this would happen. The day of the birth she’d felt it more strongly than ever, a feeling in her gut that something was wrong. That sensation...she’d brushed it aside. Had encouraged Damon to go into the city with Kintel.

What a fool she was!

As soon as the twins came, she’d known. That was it. Now her children were paying for her carelessness. [member="Ferian Adair"] would bleed her and any of her kin dry. He was a monster that would never be too far gone.

She should have known...

....She should have...

Teyla’s lips parted, her eyes blank as if coming out of a dream. Considering what he said.

“A lead. We have a lead.” she responded, holding up a jagged broken trinket, clutched in her hand. “We need to go to Indupar… and we will save them.”

She motioned to the ship. The first home she’d had after years of living on the run, a place she’d felt she belonged...that had felt uncomplicated.

Now it was tied to tragedy. The terror and doom that’d followed her after Coruscant, was here.

Inside, they found Damon crouched on the floor in sobs.

She felt her ribcage constrict.

This was her fault.

It took a lot of willpower to not let the pain of seeing Damon like this, show on her face, but still, Teyla stumbled back a step.

“The blood...Ar’ekk… we don’t have a doctor onboard and it seems Damon is in need of some care. I need to set the course for Indupar, there’s bacta in the infirmary.”

She couldn’t let herself go there again. Could not join Damon in his sorrow. Numb was where she needed to stay if they were going to get their kids back.

Teyla left the room and headed for the cockpit.

[member="Arekk"] [member="Damon Riggs"]

 

[Damon Riggs]

Planet: Lithios​

Current Mood: In Pain​

w. [member="Teyla Ee'everwest"] | [member="Arekk"]​

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Riggs had managed to get the bleeding under control, but his current mood and heavy sobbing had not allowed him to think clearly enough to get the bleeding stopped completely. At least he managed to get the glass into one pile. He did not know how long he had been there on the floor before the others came back, but one look at Teyla, and Riggs just knew something inside her gone. She had dammed up her emotions. The barrier was going to crack and burst when she least expected it, and RIggs knew he had get himself together and keep himself together for that moment.

Damon rest his head against the cabinet as Teyla walked toward the cockpit and let out a sigh. There were two things he knew. The first was no matter how bad things got, he still loved her, and the second was they were going to get their twins back. Riggs didn't know how he knew, but he did. Maybe it was the natural instincts of a father, or the uncharacteristic optimism which allowed him to have hope. He didn't know. What he did know was how many times he had thought something or someone was lost to him only to be found again. For once in his life, he was choosing to hope amid the despair. It only took cutting his hand on shattered glass to get him there.

"She is not okay," Riggs said to Arekk before he could ask. "I don't know if we are either. She's been about this way since the children were gone. Don't uh... don't push for her to get out of it either. One thing I know about her... she needs her space before any attempt is made."

That was usually true, but in the back of his mind Riggs wondered if that was good advice. Did she need space when their children were gone? Should he just barge into the cockpit and tell her everything was going to be okay, or would any attempt to offer comfort be met with the same numb coldness he received at the sight of his hand? This was not going to be easy to get through, but Riggs was confident they could.

He pushed himself off the floor and reached for another towel.

"C'mon let's get this hand taken care of and then get strapped in. I don't think she is going to wait. As soon as pre-flight is done... we're leaving."

 

[Arekk]

Ethos City, Lithios, The Meissa System​

"One thing you could count on: you push a man too far, and sooner or later he’d start pushing back."
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[member="Teyla Ee'everwest"] ~ [member="Damon Riggs"]​

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"Indupar it is then. I'll check on Damon, don't worry. Go sit in the cockpit and try to clear off your mind, I know it's hard."

Arekk's boots stomped against the durasteel floor that covered the Revenge towards wherever Damon was trying to get his wound under control, seeming to have done a terrible job at it. They were hurt, and how couldn't they be if their children had been abducted by someone with more than ill-fated intentions but he could not say anything right now that would make things better, only act.

His robotic hand reached out to squeeze Damon's shoulder as he continued to struggle with bandaging the profuse cut present in his hand while the free one grabbed some cloth laying around and irrigation solution to avoid any infections.

The fallen Jedi simply listened to what his friend had to say, hear what he was thinking and to allow him to vent all that rage collected inside because of what had transpired this last time, how much he could relate to both right now.

"Let me look at your wound, brother." Arekk said almost in a whisper as he began to bandage his entire hand properly this time. "There's a lot of things going on for the two of you, this isn't an easy thing. I was a mess when I lost Jyn and Atefeh, there was no hope to cling to by then. But right now? We'll find the kids, for all I fething believe in and know we will."

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[Damon Riggs]

Planet: Lithios​

Current Mood: Embarrassed​

w. [member="Arekk"] | [member="Teyla Ee'everwest"]​

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Riggs reluctantly presented his hand to Arekk. The man had enough wounds of his own that Damon knew Arekk would patch him up just fine. Teyla could have done it, but she walked right to the cockpit in the same hurried pace she had been living at since the children were taken. She rushed her recovery, she rushed them to Lithios, and now she was rushing them to Indupar.

Damon winced on several occasion as Arekk did what he needed to to Riggs' hand. The pain was less than ideal, as was the cut, but these things happened at the worst of times. Riggs could not think of any time worse than now. At least he finished the job before Teyla had them pushing off the landing pad. It was not her best take off at all, in fact her piloting was nowhere near what he knew she was capable of. Her flying would have made the effort more painful.

Another sigh escaped his lips as he simply nodded his blonde head to what Arekk said.

"I KNOW we will. Not sure if she knows that... You know when she met me I was in the bottom of a bottle almost every night. My best friend had saved my life. The woman I was ready to marry wasn't ready to move from the Navy with me. I had nothing but this ship, and all the booze a guy could want. I needed a pilot, and found her. Of all people in the galaxy I could have met or hired it was her, and she has seen me through so much. I just... I can't get her talk... she keeps pushing me away... and I want to be there... I want to carry the weight she has carried for me, and I... it doesn't seem like I can. Arekk I feel like I am failing her... HER of all people... I cannot fail her..."

 

[Amz]

The conversation she’d had with Damon helped to level her out, control the fear and anger embedded tightly like a precious jewel in her

heart. Teyla wasn't fully relieved of it, but she had a better grasp on it now than before...abandoning her quest for detached calm and discarding her pretense of composure. Though she still did not understand her own Force potential, once she'd let go, the love and grief seemed to have broken through to some white-light reality. She could feel them again, and that had given her more hope than anything else in the entire Galaxy.

Her head swayed to the side, catching a glimpse of Rafiki beside her.

The Wookiee had kept himself scarce in the passenger lofts after the incident. She knew that he felt a sense of responsibility towards the children. Rafiki had spent so much time around her while she was pregnant, protecting her whenever Damon couldn’t be around.

He’d been among those wounded when that man had come, trying to fight against an impossible enemy. The fur on his thigh was burnt and frayed, blackened skin beneath peeking through. Remains of a lightsaber burn.

Rafiki roared.

Teyla still had to concentrate to understand him, she’d been listening for a while, but wasn’t able to communicate with him as effortlessly as Damon seemed to. Pronouncing his language was difficult, but she’d made some headway in understanding it.

Especially in this instance.

Remorse was translatable across all languages.

Her palm touched the back of his large furry paw to soothe him.

“Are you sure you’re going to be well enough to help? You might need to stay on the ship.”

Rafiki growled.

“I suppose you’re right, we do need all of the help we can get. But you’re also still wounded and we have limited supplies of bacta, you could have been better treated on Naboo. If you’re determined, though, then I’m not going to stop you.”

Silence.

The Wookiee didn’t say anything else until they reached Indupar.

​

[member="Arekk"], [member="Damon Riggs"]

 

[Kerstan Blackmoore]

Indupar | Darkwell Mountains | Blackmoore Estate​

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"A lion does not concern himself with the opinions of sheep."​

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Hollowed out rock and stone had become the only thing remaining of the what had been the original palace Xander Blackmoore had once called his. The decay of time and the wars fought in his absence had reduced the massive wonder of architecture to a pile of rubble. It was only a matter of time before the people had rebelled against an absent ruler who, while loved by the people, had built his glory and power on the backs of those adored him. One must know when to purr and when to bite, it had been Xander's mantra, but now another Blackmoore lay in hiding, cursed with the long life of a K'paur, one that remembered and did not forget.

Kerstan sat at his massive, carved, wooden desk pouring over the reports and findings of the research he was doing. His master had disappeared, and all Kerstan'ur'Xan could discover of his whereabouts was the science he had been performing. The beast of a man had decided the only way to know what truly happened was to mimic the research, and one name appeared over and over in the files.

Teyla Ee'everwest.

It had taken some time to track the woman down. She was constantly moving, never staying in the same place for any length of time. Any news Kerstan could find of her had her attached to a man, Damon Riggs. He was a former Navy Captain, a leader and warrior turned smuggler. Kerstan could only imagine the life events that could turn a man that seemed well decorated to the life of criminal scum. The trail had finally stopped. Naboo. There had been no movements from Naboo for some time, and it was not far from Indupar at all. The shadows had been Kerstan's friend for a long time, and once again he would embrace the cover they provided him as he set out to see this Teyla for himself.

She was pregnant. Riggs was more than just someone she worked with, but even more interesting was the scent. Kerstan had remembered reading something about the experiments done to the woman. This was interesting, but what was even more interesting was the fact he could sense the twins. That was why they were now in a makeshift nursery in the Blackmoore compound. Kerstan had to know what his master had done. How had he managed to manipulate dna and see it passed on to the children.

Kerstan was going to find the answers he wanted, and no one would stop him.

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[member="Teyla Ee'everwest"] | [member="Damon Riggs"] | [member="Arekk"]​

 

[Arekk]

Ethos City, Lithios, The Meissa System​

"One thing you could count on: you push a man too far, and sooner or later he’d start pushing back."
——————————————————————​

[member="Teyla Ee'everwest"] ~ [member="Damon Riggs"] ~ [member="Kerstan Blackmoore"]​

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"Give her some time to think and breathe, Damon. You're not failing anyone because you are bringing your children back to her mother's arms and your own as well, keep that chin up. She will quickly regain that strength that's so signature of hers, it's not easy losing or having your children kidnapped. Trust me."

The more he spoke about the ordeal, the more he felt his chest aching like the day that Asha had shown him the vision of Jyn's fate on that fatidical day that changed it all for his life and her own as well. Taken away by lusty for revenge criminals seeking revenge from Arekk himself for desserting The Hawk's Circle by taking everything he loved, his whole universe crashed down when Jyn was murdered and Atefeh had been taken away.

Three years of not knowing the little girl's whereabouts and at the same time mourning the death of who would have ended up becoming his wife if it wasn't for what had happened to her.

Where was he to protect them? Why did this happen to them? Why, why. The same situation couldn't repeat itself now and Arekk was more than aware of that, even if it meant dying to find his friend's children then it would also be worth the attempt.

"You've got to be a soldier for Teyla." Arekk said while carefully bandaging Damon's hand as if he was treating the many injuries he had received over the years. "Get your head back in the game, let's find them safe and sound. That's all what matters now."

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[Damon Riggs]

Planet: Indupar​

Current Mood: Hopeful​

w. [member="Arekk"] | [member="Teyla Ee'everwest"]​

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Arekk was right, and even though he knew Teyla needed time to breathe and think, Riggs didn't want to wait. The two of them had always tackled their problems head on, and Teyla would not have let Damon sit in his own pity and self loathing if the roles were reversed. That was why he pretty much ignored that part of Arekk's advice and decided to focus on the part where he needed to soldier on. The truth was they needed Teyla's head in the game, so when Riggs nodded, he stood from the chair he had been sitting in and headed for the cockpit.

"Thanks Arekk, it means a lot."

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The Revenge landed on the planet where all clues had led them. Teyla had let RIggs know she was going to check in on Rafiki. The wookiee was also blaming himself for not being vigilant in protecting the babies, but the truth was he also was the only one who had seen the one who took them. Rafiki could have been killed, and so Riggs hoped that Teyla was reassuring him as much as he had been able to help her. The last thing they needed was a wookiee with revenge on his mind. If Rafiki was going to join them he needed his head in the game as well.
That seemed to be a theme.

All that was left for the rag tag crew was to ensure their weapons were ready. That's why Riggs was in armory. Most smugglers did not have a armory on their ship, but since Riggs was former military, he had a dedicated stockpile for missions that required a bit more fire power. This was not a mission, but this was the exact kind of situation. Anything and everything was ready to go. Thermal detonator, slug throwers, blaster rifles, stun batons, Riggs had no idea what they were going to encounter, so Riggs wanted to be sure they were all prepared.

His voice finally rang out over the comm.

<<< "Guns are ready. Stop by the armory and pick your poison. I don't know what to expect so make sure you all pick up a belt of detonators on your way out as well."

 

[Amz]

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Teyla clutched the broken artifact in her hand, its dim-amber light fighting to stay alive in her palm. She

wondered what its connection was to the man who had taken the kids, and at the strange ruins etched into its otherwise smooth surface. There was something about it that was connected to Ferian, to this other stranger, to her. In her bones, she knew. With a sigh, Teyla tucked it away in the pocket of her canvas jacket and stretched to her feet, heading down to where the others were gathering in the armory to prepare. Her pace slowed as she watched her lover and friends preparing for battle.

There were racks and barrels, of weapons and more. There was silence as they each picked their weapon, Rafiki going for the heaviest, as she figured he would.

Watching the proceedings, a sickening feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Something in the air, a kind of anticipation, perhaps on the borderline of fear. "Shiraya preserve us," she prayed beneath her breath, bowing her head and batting away the gnat of worry. Even now, the attack they'd suffered on Naboo, loomed over their heads like a Krayt Dragon deciding whether it was hungry or not. They had lost then...and it was only a taste of what she knew this affiliate was capable of. She could feel his stain on the Force from this distance.

A chill ran down her spine and her grip closed around the handle of a blaster that she holstered to her belt, slipping a few knives into her boot.

"He knows we're here," She said, realizing how concerning that sounded. He would know to expect an attack from them, and that made their situation even worse. It surprised even herself that they shared this connection. Teyla hadn't expected it. But, for whatever reason, they were. Was this part of what Ferian had done to her?

Golden-brown eyes moved between Damon and Arekk, shaking her head and losing a breath. "We need a plan. Guns blazing isn't going to work this time."

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Tag: [member="Arekk"] [member="Damon Riggs"] [member="Kerstan Blackmoore"]

 

[Arekk]

Indupar, The Mid Rim​

"One thing you could count on: you push a man too far, and sooner or later he’d start pushing back."
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[member="Teyla Ee'everwest"] ~ [member="Damon Riggs"] ~ @Kerstan Blackmoore​

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"We'll have to infiltrate quietly to wherever we're going. Scout the location and make sure to pick the right approach, can't risk anything unless necessary."

Arekk was already making his way to the armory when he had replied back to Teyla's inquiry to gear up and grab whatever they needed for the mission such as a powerful blaster to carry strapped on his leg, plus some other helpful gadgets. He had brought a long a rucksack with different types of equipment he considered vital while out on the field, including his lightsaber that had been kept in a small metallic container for over two years now.

The fallen Jedi kneeled before the rucksack he had brought along and contemplated the metallic container for a few seconds, seemingly looking lost as if he was trying to wrap around the idea in his head that he had to open it. Bring back the nightmares back, igniting the lightsaber once more would mean that all the ancient terrors that haunted his mind would return.

"No room for error, not today." His hazel-blue pools dragged between Teyla and Damon, giving them a reassuring nod. "We'll get them back."

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[Damon Riggs]

Planet: Indupar
Current Mood: Hopeful
w. [member="Arekk"] | [member="Teyla Ee'everwest"]

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"How do you know?"

Blue eyes looked to the eyes where Riggs had found his home. Teyla sounded concerned, and her words were concerning. Riggs had never heard her speak like this before, and while he was aware certain things had been done to her by Ferian, Riggs or Teyla had not known the full extent of what it was. This was the first time Riggs had observed anything like this, and while his primary concern was getting their twins back, Damon knew he was going to need to keep an eye on his lover as well. This was the wrong moment for it, but Riggs had another thought in his mind. Lover was not the term he wanted for Teyla, and had not been for some time. They needed to revisit the conversation they had after the sudden meeting with Baros a few months prior.

"We are dealing with a force user here, a master. Arekk, I hate to say it, but you're the most qualified here in that regard. I'm useless against force attacks. Teyla is... well we don't know."

Riggs reached out to take her hand. Arekk needed to know some of the story.

"Teyla might be able to, but we don't know. I want to get our kids, but I am going to need a distraction. I can't face a force user alone. Arekk if you can distract... we can get to the kids..."

Damon looked to them both to see if they agreed. They also had to move because if the Sith knew they were there, then he was already on his way to find them. While Teyla was right that they needed a plan, they also had to form it on the go.

"In the meantime, we need to get moving because if he knows we are here... then we can't sit."