Miriah squeezed her eyes shut as splinters from the crate she was crouched behind flew in all directions from the blaster bolt. She'd been pinned down, here in this forsaken hole, for nearly an hour. The power pack for her blaster had been changed out three times already, and still the Regulators came. She looked around now, trying to locate Corso, but there was so much chaos she still couldn't find him. She let out a sigh and resumed her position, trying to get line of sight around the containers.

She saw a Regulator's sleeve barely visible around the opposing crate and fired. The resulting scream of pain forced the soldier out, and before he could scream again, he had a hole in his forehead. He fell heavily, and his partner across the way scurried into the building again. Stupid Regulators, she thought. They don't know what they've gotten themselves into. She lay in wait, hoping to see another to pick off, the main battle raging to her left. Where is Corso, she thought, listening to hear one of his war whoops. She heard nothing but blaster and cannon fire, and when the frequency of both started to lessen, she made her way up to the front line, where she looked carefully at each man present. Finally she stopped a Republic soldier with a medic armband.

"Have you seen a man named Corso Riggs?" she asked him. "Tall, brown eyes, dreadlocks.."

"Yeah, sent 'im in the last evac shuttle, chest wound," he said, hurrying off to the next wounded. Miriah stared at his retreating back in shock. No, she thought, he has to be mistaken. I would have known if he'd gotten hurt, wouldn't I? She walked slowly to the Republic camp, looking for Corso in every face, every soldier lying on the ground, every one she met as she made her way to the shuttle to return to the orbital station. Maybe he's just there, waiting for me, she thought. Yeah, that has to be it. She sat, stunned still, as the shuttle took off. The hour's journey felt days long, and the anxiety in her chest grew with every heartbeat. We should never have gotten separated, there was too much going on, it's all my fault. A sense of dread overtook her, and she could barely swallow around the lump in her throat. He has to be alright, he just has to be. I know he hates the kolto tank, but he'll probably already be in one by the time I get there. The Regulators aren't stupid, I am, for getting him hurt. She covered her face with her hands, ignoring the stinging cuts from shrapnel and not noticing how filthy she was. No, I can't cry now, she thought, I have to be strong for him. He'll need to know that I'm okay, so he can concentrate on getting better.

She exited the shuttle with the rest of the weary fighters, and saw Risha coming toward her, parting the crowd. The serious look on the engineer's face told Miriah that things were not going well. They hugged as they met, and Risha turned her captian toward a bench.

"No, Rish, we have to get to the med center," she said, resisting Risha's pull to sit.

"Sit down, Miriah," the solemn faced woman said. "Please." Miriah sat immediately, Risha wasn't one to ever say please for anything, and that alone told her the news was grave. "They sent someone to the hangar. He's in critical condition, they are trying to stabilize him enough to put him in a tank, but he's lost a huge amount of blood." Risha looked at her hands, and reached out to take one of Miriah's. "He's not doing well, Mir. I wanted you to hear that from a friend before we got there." Miriah nodded, trying to hold back her panic, and they stood to walk to the medical facility.

Once there, Miriah badgered the staff. "I want to see my husband, " she said, for probably the thousandth time. And again, the staff told her she couldn't. She paced, sat, paced again. Risha was replaced by Bow, and Miriah still persisted. Cold, tired, and hungry, but she would not leave. Her mind finally shut down, but her body remained in motion, around the small waiting area. Evening gave way to night, and night into early morning. On the back side of her pacing route, the doors opened to the main med bay and a man emerged, wearing the white clothing of the medical corps.

"Mrs. Riggs," he said, and Miriah stopped dead, her silver eyes holding hope as she gazed at him, momentarily confused.

"Yes," she rasped out, her tears having made her hoarse. "How is he? Can I see him?"

"Let's sit," the medic told her, and Miriah felt the room tilt. "He got here aboard the evac, and the medic had done what he could en route. Tremendous blood loss, blunt force trauma to his chest. We worked on him for hours, Mrs. Riggs." Miriah looked up to see Risha and Guss join Bow, then turned attention to the medic again.

"So when can I see him? He's in a tank, recovering, right?" She waited for the answer, nervously licking her lips.

"I'm sorry, Captain. We couldn't save him. There was just too much damage." She felt the tears start. Hot, thick tears that made tracks in the dirt on her face. Still, she looked at the medic for answers. "I'm sorry," he said again, and when Risha approached them, the medic stood. "I'll let the desk know to wait for your arrangements." Miriah was motionless, other than the tears. Risha sat and put her arm around her captain, her friend.

"Mir, let's go. We can't do anything for him here." She stood and tried to pull Miriah up with her, but the tiny woman refused to budge.

"I don't believe it, Rish. It doesn't feel right. I would know, in my heart, if he were dead. He's not dead," she said. "He's not dead!," she yelled, suddenly gaining her feet and moving quickly to the now-locked doors. "He's not dead! He can't be! He promised!" she wailed, her fists pounding the doors where the medic had disappeared, where Corso was. Her Corso, who'd said he'd never leave her, who'd promised he would be with her when they were both old and gray.

Bow reached her as the security team rushed the waiting area, and he turned to them with a growl, stopping the wide-eyed detail in their tracks. "Come, little one, let us leave this place and figure out what we should do next," he told Miriah. He put his huge furry arms around her, and felt her collapse, her keening wail echoing in the hallways, as he carried her to the ship. Risha followed them, wiping her face and trying to block out the sound of her friend's grief. Guss waited until they were aboard the ship and Bow had placed Miriah on the bed in her quarters before sedating her.

Risha stayed with her, watching as the tears slowed and her friend slept. It hardly seemed real, she thought. They'd been through so much, seen so many battles and so many tough situations, that she had come to believe they'd always return. When Miriah finally succumbed to the sedative, Risha took a warm, wet cloth and washed her friend's face, not knowing how she'd go on without him.

The day turned into two. The captain's quarters remained locked from the inside. The crew heard yells and curses, sobs and wails. Objects struck walls and they could hear her crying in the night. The third day, their captain stepped out of her quarters and looked at her crew. She was pale and shaky, but there was a fire in her eyes. Risha brought her a mug of cocoa, but Miriah refused it. Anger was her fuel now. She turned and addressed them all

"I will avenge him. If it takes the rest of my life, I will hunt them down," she said.

"You mean, you'll kill the ones who did this? Who killed Corso?" Bow asked, puzzled when she shook her head.

"No, I'll kill them all. Every last one."