Frankly, Kaz, I'm still working on that.

Say, does anyone know why, when Shade posts once, she can't post again, and neither can I? Is most frustrating.

Jass scowled at Captain Tsai Rtyra's back. Why had she requested him of all people?
She was on the bobbing dock, supervising the Suun's unloading. Finally she turned to him.
"The Kiyan Saranai is ready. Shall we go?" He nodded, displeasure clouding his ice blue eyes. She smiled mischieviously, which only made him scowl harder. Her grin widened as she saw how disgruntled he was, and he glowered at her.
"Come on," he said irritably, and still smiling, she followed him to the Starblown.

Claw was once more installed "indefinitely" in the gunner's seat, with Coppertop comfortably grown into the pilot's chair. Resignedly he prepared himself for the next crazy adventure. Not that he didn't enjoy the company, but last time he'd almost gotten killed and he didn't relish it.
They were headed for Vanargala, as Copper insisted that they find Nightshade. After all, she'd participated in Kroys's downfall, hadn't she? And so here they were, orbiting one of Vanargala's three moons and waiting for permission to land.
Vanargala may have been a rainforest planet, but its moons were balls of ice. They were hovering above Drant at the moment.
Finally the word came, and the Assassin landed delicately on the ice-patched pad. Copper lowered the boarding ramp and released the airlock, and Claw narrowed his eyes as a blast of freezing air hit him full in the face. Turning a disgusted look on Copper, he rose and gingerly left the Assassin. Coppertop grinned at his discomfort, and trotted over to the top of the ramp, only to be knocked down it by a shivering Kaz. Muttering dire curses and promising only the most exquisitely painful future for Copper. Shinyso shrugged and started down the ramp, and a frozen Blacksheep followed him. She slipped on the by-now icy ramp and fell, sliding into Shinyso and knocking him over. The pair landed on the ground, Blacksheep hysterically laughing and Shinyso distastefully brushing snow off his fur. Phoebe appeared at the top of the ramp, looking annoyed.
"Blackie, you shouldn't be up and about. Where's your common sense?"
"Oh, it's all right, Phoebe," Kaz said cheerfully, packing a large snowball as he spoke. He took careful aim at Shinyso's back. Winding up to throw, he paused. "And besides, Wildie fixed her up when we got to the Assassin." He finished his throw, and got Coppertop in the face as Shinyso, with a wicked half-grin, moved aside. Copper shook her head violently and wiped the snow off, and Kaz tried to hide, but it was too late. She grabbed some snow, made a hasty ball and threw it with deadly accuracy at the guilty bird. It got him right on the beak, and he began throwing snowballs with no discrimination whatsoever. One hit a startled Kovu, another got Claw on the arm, and he finally managed to get Shinyso right between the shoulder blades, knocking him over again. The rest went flying off to land on the Assassin, other ships, and the passerbys. Copper shook her head pityingly as she watched the bird attempt to escape the wrath of Shinyso, Kovu and Claw.
"He's recessing," she said to no-one in particular. Ducky, beside her, nodded in agreement.
"His childhood is back again," she agreed. "Say, how are we to find Nightshade? There's three more balls of rock out there to search-" she stopped abruptly as Kaz raced over to hide behind her. Moving aside, she put him once more in Kovu's line of fire. His snowball hit Kaz square on the top of his head, laying him out. Dazedly Kaz watched the snowflakes fall, mumbling something about "yes, Mother" and cookies. Coppertop watched all this, hands on hips, with a third-laughing, third-annoyed and third-incredulous expression as Kovu pounced. Shinyso and Claw had given up the chase, although Claw had only turned and leveled his blaster and Shinyso had advanced a couple paces with his sword drawn. Kaz huddled in the snowbank, pleading for mercy, and Kovu helped him up.
"What a dirtball this place is," he observed.
"Yeah, it needs a good cleaning," Blacksheep added.
"I'm cold," Kaz chipped in, then subsided when everyone's dryest looks were heaped on him.
"Did he get enough sleep last night?" Ducky asked privately to Copper. She shrugged.
"I'm hoping that's the reason, and it's not a side-effect from that crash he was in," she said resignedly. Claw, Protec back in the holster, appeared at her side.
"Well, shall we start searching?"

Alpha had finally got a fix on the Assassin. It hadn't been easy, but the Jendara's sensors were quite good and Drant was not that far away.
Omega had remained in a drug-induced sleep. At first he had fought the drugs, but once sleep overtook him he had not wakened.
Alpha was slowly getting the hang of the controls, no easy task when she kept wanting to check on Omega. She'd put him back in the medivac, but healing was slow. So was liftoff. But once in space, any pilot could be graceful without meaning to. Sure, and any pilot can get blown up when fiddling with the controls without meaning to ...

Drant.
They were on Drant.
How incredibly ... annoying. Selantrio was typical; he hated cold. Very few of his kind could endure it, and those who could were spies. And Selantrio was not a spy.
One was not on Drant; he was on Firen. Reliable sources said that he would probably head for Medivo next, but probablies were not enough for Beren Deathwreaker.
Only complete control was enough for Beren Deathwreaker.
Selantrio, like every other of his kind, served Beren to his utmost limit. And beyond. Beren's word was law for every one of his people.
Selantrio was a Commander, and in charge of security, spies and any information that came in otherwise. And he reported directly to Beren. Few saw Beren once in their lifetimes; Selantrio supposed he would be considered the luckiest one they had ever seen. He had thought so, too, once; the luster had worn off somewhere in the first two weeks. He was still in absolute awe of his lord; he could not help that and wouldn't if he could. But daily regimes with no action wore on one's patience. And even Beren was beginning to show restlessness after the very unexpected defeat of the agents he had sent out to destroy the rabbit Omega. Selantrio had been most shocked when he learned of the agents' deaths.
Selantrio was a Deathless One.
He, like the other Deathless Ones, called himself by a different name, of course. By Beren Deathwreaker's order, no outsider could know of their special name, the one Beren himself had chosen.
It was Salenrytii, and meant the chosen. The chosen ones, chosen by Beren Deathwreaker. Any dare oppose him and the death will rate high.
One had dared oppose him.
Kroys had failed, and thus Beren's plan to rule through him had too. Now was the time for more direct tactics, now the time to strike at the galaxy and to take over quietly while they were still recovering from the blows Kroys had dealt them.
And one still evaded Beren's search.
One and many more. Blast, blast those allies and those incredible abilities. And those unknown connections.
And Omega. Selantrio's work had been most difficult when he had searched out the rabbit's whereabouts, and he had gone to great lengths to hide the agents. And all for nothing? ...
But Beren Deathwreaker did not accept failure as an excuse for nothing. Selantrio, although he had failed, could not again. He must search harder, seek those who were more dangerous.
One was far more dangerous than Omega. Far more. One who had destroyed Beren's best weapon, the human wizard Kroys.
One? No, two, three and more. But one in particular and two in general. And they threatened the undeafeatable Beren Deathwreaker.
No one could threaten Beren Deathwreaker and live. And Beren Deathwreaker had sworn to kill them.
Selantrio suspected that they had sworn to kill his lord, too.
Perhaps they had.
Selantrio turned as a Kronan, named after the 'lord' Kroys early in his reign, entered. Dog-like creatures with blunt spikes along their spines and staring, pupiless white eyes, Selantrio was always repulsed when such even looked at him. He suspected that they weren't natural.
"My lord see you. Now," the Kronan gargled. Its' voice was a mix of a hiss and a growl. It scraped on Selantrio's already raw nerves, sending shocks up his spine.
"Now," it repeated. Selantrio gave it a frosty look which it ignored.
"I heard you. Begone, foul beast. You offend my sight."
The Kronan grinned. Multitudes of yellowed fangs were bared in that grin, and Selantrio was struck by how ugly the Kronan race was once more.
"I go. But return at milord's call." The primitive, broken speech carried plenty of emphasis on "milord".
"Dismissed," Selantrio said stiffly. The Kronan grinned again at Selantrio's discomfiture, and left. And Selantrio went with all haste to Beren's centre.

Okay, more to post later, maybe tomorrow if Shade doesn't get there ahead of me. Sorry if it seems like I've dropped out, but one post per email, per day is pretty annoying.