Lana woke to a dull but prominent ache in her neck, one that was no doubt due to the awkward, folded position she had unconsciously curled herself into after falling asleep in the chair some hours earlier. Blinking to clear her vision as she sat upright, she saw that C5 was typing something into a datapad nearby.
"Ah, good morning, my lord. I am just finishing my morning assessments on Lord Wrath. It appears as though he is continuing to improve at a remarkable rate. I do not believe that the distal portion of his right arm will require further debridement—a significant deviation from yesterday's expectations. I am happy, and somewhat perplexed, to report that his cellular regeneration is so remarkably advanced at this time that his third degree burns should heal without grafts." The droid set down the datapad, its headlamps blinking patiently at her.
"Too much, too early, C5. But thank you." Lana rubbed at the back of her neck, wincing, and stood up. She glanced down at Caius; the bandages had been removed from his right arm, and she could now see that the skin underneath appeared raw and painful, but it did look somewhat better than the blackened and bloodied state she had observed only hours before. Valkorion, she thought with a sneer, remembering the subtle but dangerous power she had sensed within Caius since she released him from his carbonate tomb. Caius does not wish to owe that monster anything…. We must find a way to be rid of him. Soon.
"My lord, I believe that master Senya was looking for you earlier. You may find her on the bridge." Lana nodded—eliciting another sharp pain in her neck—and turned to go.
"Alert me if there is any change in his status. I want to know if he wakes up," she told the droid, and then she swept out of the room.
"Yeah, well, I can't believe you let her go." Lana heard Koth's accusatory tone as she approached the bridge.
"She's my daughter, Koth. Did you expect me to just kill her?"
"Yes!" Koth didn't hesitate to respond to Senya's question. "I've seen firsthand what Vaylin can do. She's not someone we can negotiate with. She's—"
"She's what, Koth?" Senya was standing rigid, fists clenched at her sides, looking as though she would very much like to vaporize the man where he stood. Lana paused in the doorway; SCORPIO was standing nearby, watching silently. "Powerful? Ruthless? Cruel? Don't you think I know that?"
Koth folded his arms across his chest and leaned forward. "Obviously not. You wouldn't have taken the risk of letting her live if you did."
"That's enough, Koth." Lana announced her presence, fixing her sharp golden eyes on him.
"Oh, come on," he scoffed, turning to face Lana and SCORPIO. "Tell me I'm wrong. You can't actually agree with her decision—letting Vaylin go?"
Lana pressed her lips together in a thin line. "It doesn't matter what I think. Senya made her choice; it's in the past now. We'd best focus on the present instead."
"Platitudes," Koth muttered, glowering at her.
Senya's posture loosened slightly; her shoulders hunched forward, and she pressed a thumb and index finger to her forehead as though she could physically draw out the thoughts that were crowding her mind. "I know what—who—Vaylin is. Far better than you do, Koth," she said. "After all, much of what she has become is due to my failure as a mother. I should have protected her from Valkorion." Senya shook her head. "But I cannot kill her. I have to try to convince her, talk to her, somehow…."
"I'm all for peaceful solutions, normally, but it just isn't realistic in this case. You made a mistake, Senya; I just know we'll pay for it later. Now, if you'll excuse me," Koth turned to leave, "I need to keep working on the Gravestone. Poor girl is still trying to recover. Besides, she's the only one worth talking to around here."
SCORPIO fixed him with a level, mechanical gaze. "The Gravestone does not speak Galactic Incompetent, Koth. I suggest you try using another dialect, or an interpreter, if you wish to communicate with it."
"Shut up, droid."
Lana waited for a moment as Koth made his way down the corridor. "You'll have to excuse him, Senya," she said. "I know he's being childish, but he just needs time. I think we're all a bit on edge after recent events."
Senya released a heavy sigh through her teeth. Her pale blue eyes glinted against the mechanical light of the ship, a mixture of inner conflict and anger. "He's selfish and shortsighted. I would rather not excuse him at all. How you've managed to work with Koth for the last few years is beyond me."
"It was not without great difficulty, at times. But he's not as bad as he seems." Lana watched her carefully, trying to navigate through the storm of emotions radiating from Senya's consciousness. She became aware, suddenly, of SCORPIO's intense stare. "SCORPIO, stay on the bridge. Senya." She beckoned for the older woman to follow her out of the room.
They made their way to the elevator and down to the engineering deck in silence, accompanied only by the distant hum of the ship's engines and the mechanical grating of the lift. "So, I'm guessing you have a reason for bringing me down here?" Senya finally spoke up as they rounded the corner and came to a large, open room. Lined up against the far wall was a variety of deactivated Skytroopers. Some were nearly intact, missing a leg or an arm, while others had been decimated completely; only blackened, indistinguishable chunks remained. Senya raised her eyebrows. "What an...interesting hobby you have."
Lana rolled her eyes. "This is what's left of the droids that attempted to stop us from escaping Zakuul with the Gravestone. I've found them quite useful for occasionally venting my frustrations."
"Yes," Senya glanced at a particularly charred piece of what may have once been a Skytrooper's head, although it was difficult to be sure, "I see that." She took a few steps toward the deactivated droids, arms folded across her chest. "May I?"
"Of course."
The explosion of energy that followed was so fierce that Lana suspected she would have felt it were she still on the bridge. Senya ignited her lightsaber and leapt into the air, coming down to impale one droid and release a gust of Force energy in all directions. Parts were scattered across the floor and into the air; she cut diagonally at another droid as it fell, slicing it in two. The blue of her saber cast a cool light on the room, washing the Skytroopers in a pale, ghostly hue. Lana clasped her hands behind her back and watched as Senya leapt again, spinning her saber above her head before swinging it down to decapitate two more droids as they fell with her. She swept her blade in a low arc; another gust of energy cleared the area around her. Lana deflected several pieces of shrapnel with a wave of her hand and watched them skid to the floor. She brushed a loose strand of hair from her face; Senya was standing rigidly in the center of the room, her back to Lana, the hum of her lightsaber filling the empty space between them.
"C5 mentioned that you wished to speak with me earlier," Lana said, taking Senya's pause as an opportunity.
"I did." Senya turned to face her, some of the tension gone from her shoulders now. "I meant to ask you about Odessen, and your potential allies." She twirled her lightsaber in her hand. "Care to spar?"
Lana ignited her own lightsaber and stepped forward, its red glow mixing with Senya's blue. "You have concerns?" she asked, waiting for Senya to make the first move.
The older woman obliged. She cut toward Lana's saber with a sideways arc; their blades clashed as they began a series of offensive and defensive strikes. "I don't doubt your prowess as an information gatherer, Lana, but I do know that Republic and Imperial troops will be asked to work side-by-side." Lana sidestepped to avoid an overhead slash from Senya. "I also know," Senya continued, huffing, "that you and the Outlander will be the primary leaders of this Alliance."
"Caius will be the primary leader. I pulled these people together, but he must be the one to keep them that way." Lana executed a low strike; Senya jumped over her blade and twisted to block another advance.
"Right, well, my point is that Caius is a Sith. Do you believe that the Republic troops will truly accept him as a leader?" Their lightsabers locked. Lana tightened her grip, leaning against Senya's strength; the room filled with a reverberating electric scraping noise.
"I believe that your children have given them more than enough reason to unite," Lana panted, searching for an opening. A bead of sweat trickled down Senya's furrowed brow. "And—" Lana stepped back as Senya kicked forward, trying to take her legs out from under her. Senya used the moment of imbalance to advance, swinging high over her head. Lana dropped to a knee and parried the attack with one hand. Gathering strength from the tightness in her chest, she slammed Senya with a blast of Force energy from her off hand; Senya skidded backward and dropped to a knee as well, leaving a mark through the dust on the floor. The two women faced each other from across the room, lightsabers held out at their sides, one knee and one palm on the floor.
"—You believe in Caius." Senya finished the statement for her, a grim smile on her face, and then she slowly stood. Lana pressed her lips together and rose to both feet as well. "He is quite unlike most Sith I have met," Senya continued. "Calm. Collected. Reasonable in most respects. He's a lot like you, in fact. Perhaps that's why you two have such a connection." She switched off her lightsaber and raised an eyebrow, waiting for Lana to respond. She thought about denying it at first, but decided against it.
"Perhaps," she conceded, and returned her own deactivated lightsaber to her belt. "In any case, I know that he will lead these people well. And we will be there to help him along the way, should he need it."
"Agreed. In order to stop my children, he will need us. You, especially." Lana opened her mouth to question that statement, but Senya continued: "Anyway, thank you for bringing me down here. I guess venting some of my frustrations was what I needed, after all. And you are a formidable opponent, as always."
"Thank you. And, Senya," Lana added, "I realize that you are contending with many forces right now, given the state of things. I hope you know that you have allies here. Koth means well...he's just very headstrong and passionate at times." She clasped her hands behind her back again, settling into her accustomed stance.
"I know. I trust you, and the Outlander, for that matter. And I'll be there when the time comes to bring Arcann and Vaylin to justice. On that, you have my word." Lana nodded brusquely. From somewhere behind them, there came a muffled grunt and an "Ahem." Lana and Senya turned to find Koth at the entrance to the room, looking as though he would rather be anywhere else.
"Uh…."
"Koth. What do you want now?" Senya did not try to hide the distaste in her tone. Koth seemed to find his confidence and lifted his chin.
"I came...well, I actually came to apologize. Can't believe I'm doing this…." he trailed off for a moment, clenching his jaw. Senya raised her eyebrows. "I was wrong to be so harsh with you, Senya. I still think you made a mistake, but…" he paused again, struggling, "I also know that if we don't start working together, we won't be any good in the fight against Arcann."
Lana watched the two carefully, her golden eyes missing nothing. Senya grunted in a manner that seemed halfway between annoyed and shocked. She waited for a several long moments; for what, Lana wasn't sure.
"Well," she began, frowning, "I don't expect you to understand things from my point of view, Koth. And you really should stop acting like a child—"
"Senya…." Lana warned her quietly, hoping to avoid another explosive confrontation.
"But, for now, I'm willing to call it a truce." Senya stood still, glaring fiercely at the man across from her. Koth narrowed his eyes.
"Fine," he said, "A truce it is, then."
Lana sighed heavily. "You two are insufferable. Here's hoping I'm done babysitting for the next few days." Koth crossed his arms, surveying the carnage left over from Senya's outburst of energy and the subsequent duel.
"What have you two been doing, anyway? It looks like a bomb went off in here."
"Senya needed to release some of her frustration. I took the liberty of assuming that it would be better for her to do so here rather than anywhere near you." She fixed him with a pointed glare, and he swallowed.
"Right, uh, yeah. Good call."
The corners of Senya's mouth turned slightly upward.
"Master Beniko?" C5-Z4's voice crackled over Lana's comm. The tightness in her chest returned with an uneasy flutter. She pressed a finger to her ear.
"Yes, C5? Go ahead."
"Lord Wrath's condition has undergone an unforeseen development. You may want to return to the med bay at your earliest convenience."
Lana's breath caught painfully in her throat, and she forced herself to inhale slowly before answering. "I'm on my way," she said, and then she turned and strode out of the room without another word, leaving Koth and Senya to wonder.
"Should we…?" Koth began, but Senya shook her head.
"No."
Lana came striding into the med bay to find C5 drawing some kind of liquid into a syringe. "What's happened?" she asked, moving to Caius' side. He looked terrible; beads of sweat ran down his face and onto the pillow, leaving pale tracks down his already ghostly-hued skin. His breathing was labored and rapid, and Lana could see his eyes flitting back and forth beneath closed lids. He looks as though he's having a nightmare.
"I do not know for sure, my lord," the droid answered. It bent over Caius, syringe in hand. "Over the last thirty minutes, his respirations and heart rate have nearly doubled, and his body temperature has increased by four-point-two degrees. I am going to administer a medication for seizure prophylaxis."
"Seizure prophylaxis?" Lana watched as the droid injected a small amount of medication into Caius' arm.
"Yes. According to my scans, Lord Wrath's brain activity has increased exponentially. His neurons are firing at approximately three times the rate of what the normal brain should be doing during waking hours. I am quite surprised that he has not already seized." Lana examined the various displays and monitors throughout the room, reading through C5's scans.
"My lord, he is not responding to the other treatments I have been giving him. In spite of my efforts, his condition has continued to worsen." C5 turned toward Lana, lights blinking at her as if in confusion. "It is almost as though he is fighting an acute, widespread infection, but I have found no causative explanation after multiple exhaustive scans and tests."
"He's dying," Lana said, pausing in front of the last monitor to look back at the droid, the words like acid on her tongue, heavy and cruel. She felt as though they would cut back down her throat and into her chest, tearing through the tissues within.
"Yes."
Breathe. Breathe. Lana returned to Caius, once again examining him. The burn wounds on his right side had continued to heal; they still looked somewhat raw, but with a few more treatments, she presumed, they would be repaired without contractures. His torso was heavily bandaged and she could not see the wound, but she assumed that it, too, was faring relatively well. It's the unseen that's causing the problem now. "Widespread infection…." She murmured under her breath, struggling to think through the possibilities. Something C5 is not able to detect. Lana studied Caius' face, watching as each breath tore from his lips, as he struggled to combat an unseen enemy.
An unseen enemy. Of course—he is fighting a widespread infection, but it isn't physical in origin.
"C5, I've found the problem."
The droid lowered the datapad it was holding. "My lord?"
Lana sat down in the chair she had pulled close to Caius' bed the night before and leaned forward, inhaling slowly. "We don't have time to wait till we land in Odessen. I believe I may be able to help him, but I need to focus. Make sure that no one comes in before I have finished."
C5 positioned itself near the door, nodding. "Very well, Master Beniko."
Lana closed her eyes, inhaling once more, and reached out through the Force as she had done the night before, searching for the flicker of Caius' flame. It was difficult to find; surrounding him was a blaze of dark energy, wrathful and chaotic. Valkorion. Caius is fighting against his presence, but he is too weak in this state. Carefully, she navigated through the swirling chaos, reaching ever deeper, ever farther. At some point Lana came to an impasse, somewhere just outside the point where the conflict was most fierce. She could sense that light, that deep truth of who Lord Wrath was, writhing as he struggled against Valkorion's being. The darkness was so thick she could hardly see through it. Tentatively, Lana projected her words as far into the swirling mass as she could reach. Although they came out as barely a whisper when she spoke them, she hoped—believed—that Caius would hear from within.
"Caius, if you can hear me, I need you to listen carefully." As she spoke his name, there was a brief second of quiet within him; she felt what was almost like a warm breeze travel through the room, penetrating her chest, and then the conflict began again.
"I know that you want to be rid of him, but your body is too weak to fight Valkorion right now. If you keep this up, you'll be torn apart. You'll die, Caius. Are you listening to me?" There was another pause, longer this time. "I didn't spend five years scouring the galaxy for you to watch you die here in this bed. Just…." Lana pressed a hand to her forehead, struggling. "We'll fight him, together, but not here. Not yet. Trust me, Caius. Trust me." She wavered there for some time, reaching out into the darkness, waiting.
Eventually, the chaos began to subside. Lana saw his respirations slowly go back down, and a slight amount of color returned to Caius' skin.
"It appears that your efforts have been successful, my lord," C5 told her from what seemed like a world away. It moved closer, lights blinking quietly as it ran several new scans. "I do not think he could have lasted more than another hour in that state," it added. Lana tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed.
"Yes...the stubborn fool. He nearly got himself killed—again." Her tone was severe, but Lana clenched her fists to keep them from trembling. She remained beside Caius for quite some time, monitoring his status and helping C5 with various tasks. After several hours she heard Senya's voice over her comm: "Lana, I haven't heard from you in hours. How is our Outlander doing?"
"We encountered a few...complications...earlier, but he appears to be out of the water now," she answered, pressing two fingers to her earpiece.
"I assumed as much. I'm glad he's doing alright. And so is Koth, by the way. He won't stop bothering me about it. I offered to help him with a few repairs earlier, but I see now that it was a mistake. By the way, have you seen what's left of the door you decimated yesterday? Obviously, droids aren't the only thing you've been taking out your frustrations on lately." Her voice rang with subtle laughter.
"Oh, don't start. You sound like Koth."
"How insulting. Anyway, I thought I would let you know that we should be arriving at Odessen in about seven hours."
Lana paused next to a monitor, reading over the numbers. Caius seemed to be back to his state of accelerated healing. "Thank you. C5 has informed me that Caius should be awake before we land."
"Good," Senya said, her voice crackling slightly over the comm. "Well, I should get back to it. I've been humming a few tunes I used to sing back in the day. Koth hates it."
Lana smirked and lowered her hand. I should make sure everything is in order for our arrival, she thought, remembering that she needed to double-check with Theron on a few preparations. No doubt he forgot to contact that Republic commander he mentioned. We'll need as many people as we can get. "C5, I have some things I should attend to. Keep me informed."
"Of course, my lord."
She was about to walk out the door, about to start down the corridor and make her way to the bridge, when Lana heard a voice other than C5's.
"You've been spying on me, I see." Caius' voice was more ragged than usual, and somewhat strained, but it was him. Lana's breath caught momentarily in her throat before she centered herself.
"Someone has to," she said, turning to see him looking rather pleased with himself, watching her. "The second we look away you're charging back into trouble." His dark eyes flickered with something akin to amusement. "How are you feeling?" Lana asked, moving a step closer.
Caius grunted, running his tongue over dry lips. "Like I've been half-digested by a swamp rancor."
Lana raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, you certainly look it. Slimy hair and all." Caius furrowed his brow and moved to feel his hair, but seemed to think better of it.
"It's slimy?" he asked. Lana rolled her eyes. Caius and his hair.
"Oh, don't fret, Mighty Wrath. The only thing in this galaxy that is more powerful than your perfect mess of black hair is the head it rests upon. Not even Arcann can ruin it."
At this, Caius chuckled, bracing his chest with his left arm. He sighed carefully, dragging the breath in before letting it slowly escape. He looked down at his right arm. "Ah," he surveyed his fingers, "looks like I'll be leading with my left saber for a while."
"That may be wise. Although at this rate, your arm should be almost as good as new after another day."
"Mmm." Lana watched a shadow flicker across Caius' face, brief but prominent. "Valkorion," he muttered, and then his dark eyes slid back up to her, searching. "Are you going to sit?" he asked, nodding to the chair beside him.
Lana pressed her lips together, her sharp golden gaze resting on Caius' pale face. "Alright," she agreed, and came to sit.
"Thank you." He was looking up at the ceiling now, apparently lost in thought. Lana traced the line of his horizontal scar, studying the notch it left in the bridge of his nose as it ran across and along his cheekbones.
"You gave me quite a scare earlier, you know," she said, and he turned his head so that his other scar was almost hidden, pressed against the pillow. She could see the second half: a sharp bisection of his mouth. "That's twice in two days. I would appreciate it if you held off on whatever death wish you have going as of late."
Caius frowned. "Twice in two days?" he asked, drawing his brow down in confusion.
"Yes, you fool, once when Arcann struck you, and again just a few hours ago. You were trying to get rid of Valkorion, I believe." Caius' expression of discontent deepened.
"It must have been an unconscious attempt, then. I don't remember much...just nightmares, really. Not so different from the ones I had when I was frozen in carbonite. Apparently more than nightmares, though." His dark eyes rose to her golden ones.
"You were fighting Valkorion in this nightmare? The recent one?"
"Yes." Caius turned to look up at the ceiling again, a faint impression of the pillow lingering on his cheek. His scar ran like a trail over the pattern, cutting down his eyelid and reaching down for his chin. "We were dueling on Zakuul. I was losing...he forced me to watch as our Core Worlds burned, as he drained them of life, just like he did on Ziost. I refused to give up, and we kept battling. And then," he blinked several times, struggling to remember, "I heard someone calling my name. It was you, wasn't it? You warned me…."
"Your battle with Valkorion was killing you," Lana told him. "As much as it pains me to admit it, you needed his power to help you heal. You would have been dead were it not for his interference."
"I know." Caius' voice was grim, bitter. "We will get rid of him when my strength returns and we deal with Arcann. They'll both be sorry after all this is said and done." He looked over at Lana again. "How many times do I owe you for saving my life now? Three?" A small smile crept over his face and softened his expression, but Lana did not reciprocate it.
"You don't owe me anything." Lana looked down at her gloved hands. Caius grunted, repositioning himself with a slight a wince.
"What do you mean?" he asked, studying her. "What's troubling you?" The tightness in her chest had returned; she picked at a loose string on her grieves, her brow drawn low, brooding. Lana hesitated for several long moments before answering.
"There is much you have had to sacrifice for us, Caius. And there is much more that you will have to sacrifice in the future. Keeping an eye on you is the very least that I can do."
"Lana." Gentle pressure on her wrist made her look up; he had reached out with a wounded hand to clasp her arm. "I made a decision to do this. You know me; nobody makes me do anything. I choose my own battles." He paused, squeezing her wrist once more before bringing his arm back to rest at his side. "This one is no different. In my dream, you asked me to trust you. I am asking you to trust me, as well. And," he pressed his lips together in a small smile, "I'm glad that you have chosen this battle, too. There is no one else I would rather have fighting by my side."
Lana's cheeks heated slightly; she cleared her throat and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Are you blushing, Lana Beniko?" Caius' self-satisfied smirk came into focus.
"No."
"You know, for having been the Minister of Sith Intelligence, you're a terrible liar."
"Oh, shut up," Lana said, but she was smiling.
Caius chuckled, and then they sat in amicable silence for several long minutes. He rested his left arm across his chest again, sighing.
"Lana," he began, "since we're in the sharing mood—"
"Hold on. Did you just say, 'sharing mood'?"
"I—yes, I suppose I did. What was I supposed to say?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow at her.
Lana peered down at him and scoffed. "You've been spending too much time with Koth." she raised her eyes to the ceiling, wondering what he had been looking at, "We all have, for that matter. You wouldn't believe how much babysitting I've had to do with him and Senya over the last day."
"Ah, I don't envy you," Caius offered. "As I was saying, before you so rudely interrupted me," he furrowed his brow in mock annoyance, and Lana smiled, "I really have been meaning to talk to you about something."
"I'm listening."
All playfulness aside for the moment, Caius clenched his jaw, apparently searching for the right words. "When we first escaped Zakuul, you were injured…."
"Yes." The wound was almost completely healed. Lana thought to the laceration that now ran down her left bicep, evidence of her skirmish with several Knights. It would leave a prominent scar. In truth, she knew she had been lucky. A few steps to the side and the lightsaber would have cut through her chest rather than part of her arm.
Caius pressed on. "There was a moment, just after you were disarmed, when Valkorion offered me his power. He saw that you were vulnerable and attempted to use it as leverage. I refused."
He was looking at her now, searching her eyes, gauging her reaction. Though it was subtle, she saw in his face a reflection of the same worry she had been carrying in her chest, unpleasant and unwelcome.
Perhaps that's why you two have such a connection. Senya's words echoed faintly in her mind, and she shook her head. "Valkorion's power comes at too high a cost, Caius. You made the right choice."
"And if the Knight hadn't missed his mark?" He continued watching her.
Then I would likely be dead. The thought came suddenly, strangely, though not with the same painful burn that her words to C5 earlier had, when she had seen that Caius was dying. "Then that would not have changed the fact that you made the right choice." Caius sighed, his eyes tracking C5 as the droid busied itself about the room. "It's no use dwelling on what may have happened. I'm here, now, and so are you. And I...I would have made the same choice, were I in your position."
Caius pressed his lips together in a grim smile. "Ever the pragmatist," he murmured, flexing his wounded hand with a slight grimace. "I'm not the only one who has made sacrifices, Lana."
"It's not the same."
"It is."
Lana produced a sigh to mimic Caius'. "You're insufferable. Did you know that?" She leaned forward, arcing a blonde eyebrow at him, and the tension in his forehead relaxed somewhat.
"I've been told." He reached toward her with his left hand, a somewhat awkward gesture considering he had to reach across his chest, but Lana obliged by meeting him halfway. Caius squeezed once, gently, then released. "We can talk about it later. For now, I'm just glad you're here. And…." His eyes flashed mischievously. "I think you owe me a kiss."
Lana's cheeks flushed. "Oh, I owe you a kiss? I recant my statement from earlier; after saving your skin three times now, I believe that you owe me a kiss."
Caius smiled. "Ever the pragmatist," he said.