Beginning and Bounty

Jin'Lor silently watched Liden leave, his discomfort only growing further. He could not decide if he wanted to stay or run at this point. His mind was playing its horrible tricks on him, making him see someone there that should not be. "Go away," He growled lowly, not caring when people around him stared.

He needed air, needed to escape.

Leaving the bridge, he tried to navigate the maze of this place and somehow found himself in the one place he did not want to be: a lab. Groaning, he took a seat at a table and pinched the bridge of nose. He could still hear the threats from Liden in his head, mingling with the whispers of someone he wanted to forget.

"Fine," He seethed. "I'll make her a new body...but I won't lose control over this. She'll get the same kill switch as Ripper..." Standing, he began to grab tools and got to work with what he could use.

--

Mar ascended the lift to the bridge and looked to Mira. "What's the situation, Mira?"

"Ship's basically on its last legs. I am scanning for ships dealers... I hope you have enough money for a new one..."

Mar shrugged. "We'll have to sell this one..."

"Doubt you'll get much, and if we sell this ship we may end up being stuck."

"We can worry about that later. We need to help Ryze first." Mar looked to Ryze. "Any idea where to begin?"

Ryze chuckled at Mira's information about the Empress, but seemed to really perk up when they spoke about the ship. "I could help with that..." He offered calmly. "I mentioned earlier that I have a lot saved up, remember?"

VT-L2 came rushing in and jumped onto Ryze's leg, climbing up to the man's shoulders. "Yeah, yeah! Old man here is old and has lots of money from being a doctor and a mechanic! It's so awesome! Wheeeee!"

Grabbing the little droid, Ryze pulled him away with a sigh. "Can you not scream in my ears?" He groaned and let the droid flail in the air for a moment. "Well, as far as places to start looking, I would suggest the registration? I'm not sure how this place works...I've never actually come here since..."

"There's a giant bounty on his head, so he's never come here!" VT-L2 cried, saying what Ryze would not.

Ghost stayed with Serenity and pet Carla gently. "Serenity, I don't understand all this stuff about the light and the dark side. It makes no sense to me...I grew up in that lab and didn't even know what the force was until Ri - er - Ryze explained it to me." Resting her head upon her knees, she sighed heavily. "Visions and dreams...all this force stuff...it's so complicated."

Biting back tears, she looked down to the hen in her lap. "I'm just scared..."