Corso sat on the bridge, two days into their journey. He'd learned they were headed to Ryloth, and that Aric had found some weapons on the ship, but not much more than that. He'd seen Lana treat them as colleagues, but he still didn't trust her. His mind had wandered into darkness a few times, but the prospect of seeing Miriah again, even frozen in carbonite, was keeping him going. The plan was to take a shuttle down to the surface, bypassing the orbital station. The shuttle was ready, and they were only waiting until they were close enough to take off.
The Zakuul armies had ravaged the planet years ago, but many of the structures remained intact. There were small clusters of inhabitants there, but they were far away from the main city, where the detention facility was located. Aric and Maura had poured over the plans for the prison, and had mapped out the likely guard posts. Lana had confirmed that the facility still had power. When the proximity sensor notified them of their destination, they filed into the shuttle. Three days, and there had been very little conversation. They'd slept and ate, mostly in silence. Devin was last to enter the shuttle and as he closed the airlock, he grinned. Corso saw his son's face and couldn't help but smile back. They felt the lurch of the shuttle as it launched and settled back for the short ride down.
Lana had accepted that until Miriah was with them, the rest would remain aloof. She even understood it. As she felt through the force, they were still unsure about her, about getting the captain back, and even how they were going to pull this whole thing off. The depth of Corso's grief had been evident, and it had pierced her heart. She would be devoted to helping this family recover, if they'd let her. Devin was a puzzle to her, using both light and dark side force equally, never letting her get too close. Even sleeping, his force aura would push her back. She had the distinct feeling that, if he so chose, he would crush her like a bug and she would be helpless. Therefore, keeping on his good side was a priority for her. She piloted the shuttle down, and landed as agreed a short distance from the city.
"Let's move," Aric said. "We have an hour or so of travel before we get to the detention center." They pulled their packs on, made their weapons ready, and moved steadily toward the deserted buildings. Aric noted the absence of life, no creatures stirred under their feet nor flew overhead. That means there's no resources, he thought. He worried, and had been worried since they'd left Dantooine, about Miriah, and how she might be once they'd rescued her. Maura and he had talked about it in quiet whispers in their bunk, and he wasn't sure what they'd find. He hoped that the center still had power, and that they'd be able to get Spitfire back to the ship safely. He was bringing up the rear of the group, his eyes roaming their surroundings for trouble. They were approaching the wall around the city now, and he saw that Maura needed a short rest. They stopped and gathered, sitting and sipping water. "From what I remember here, we go in and right, along the wall until the west gate, then past it for three more buildings, right?" He looked at Lana, and she confirmed what he'd said.
"Dev, can you feel any life forces?" Corso asked.
"Nothing, not even any vermin," Devin said.
"If we meet groups of droids, like we assume we will, we stick together and take each group as they come," Aric said, getting agreement all around. "Lana, you lead here, we'll be right behind you."
"Agreed," she said, picking up her pack. They entered the city and skirted the wall, making quick progress, until Lana stopped abruptly. "Droid ahead," she told them, and they saw a two droid patrol walking slowly toward the center of the block. "We can wait them out," she suggested, and crouched to rest for a moment. When they started moving again, they were close to the west gate. Once past it, they had to stop several more times for patrols, the droids moving at a leisurely pace. Finally, they could see the door of the detention facility. Four droids were standing in place, their mechanical heads moving slowly in a sweeping motion.
"Everyone ready?" Aric asked, looking at the group. Devin and Lana both had lightsaber hilts in their hands, ready to activate them. Maura pulled the autocannon off her shoulder and they could hear it respond. Corso had Torchy already charged up. "Remember, let the cannons go first." Aric and Maura both braced themselves in a wide stance and started firing. The chatter of the big guns drowned out the sound of the lightsabers, but the pure white light of Devin's could be seen as he used the force to leap to the group, slashing the two droids relentlessly. When shiny metal parts covered the ground, they stopped to listen, trying to see of there had been any transmission from the groups they'd fought, calling reinforcements. All was quiet, and Corso stopped to close his eyes. He was so close, he thought, so very close to getting her back. He felt a little dizzy with the emotions flowing through him and the others waited for him to gather himself.
Devin felt the urgency in his dad, and reached out to him with calming force about the same time that Lana did. "Dad, I know, but we have a lot to do before we can see her. You okay with it?" Devin asked.
Corso nodded in response, and realized his hand shook as he put Torchy by his side. He could wait, he thought. He followed Aric into the darkened building and they immediately ran into another group of droids. Much as before, they decimated the group and waited, again hearing nothing. As they ventured deeper into the facility they met and took out small groups of droids, never having much difficulty with any of them. As they neared the lowest level, the groups became more sparse, and Lana rushed ahead to a vault marked only with a symbol.
"Here," Lana said, anticipation clear in her tone. She put in a code, but instead of opening, the door remained stubbornly shut. She put the code in again, and again, but the door refused to open. "I...I don't what's wrong here," she said.
"Stand back," Aric said, and leveled his cannon at the door. When the smoke cleared and they rushed into the room, they found nothing. No stasis holder, no computer. Nothing. "Are you sure this is the right vault?" Lana nodded, her face pale and drawn. Corso whirled on Lana with Torchy pointed and ready.
"Lady, I don't know what kind of game you're running, but..." He stopped when Devin put his hand on the blaster.
"She didn't know that Mom had been moved." Corso put the blaster down by his side, but his gaze never left the Sith. "If you're absolutely sure this is the right place," and Lana nodded again, "then we need to see if we can slice into a terminal and find out where she might be." They made their way back up the now empty hallway and spotted a small room to the side where the glow of a computer terminal was the only light in the room.
Corso's fingers flew over the keys. Please, tell me where she is, he chanted silently. Query after query came up blank, and, frustrated, Corso slammed his hand on the machine. "Nothing, this thing knows nothing about anything!" He rubbed his face, his hand throbbing. "What do we do now, Lana? Where is she? Does Valkorian already have her?" he shouted.
Lana backed up as far as she could, feeling the wall bite into her back. "The only suggestion I have is to see where these droids are going. She's still in stasis, I can feel that," she said, looking at Devin, who agreed with her. He could feel the tiniest spark of his mother and had held that close to his heart. As they made their way back to the entrance, Maura took Corso's hand, and was almost brought to tears at the anguish on her brother in law's face.
Corso knew he couldn't hide the disappointment he felt, and was struggling to stay optimistic. How would they ever find her on this forsaken world, he wondered. He trudged on, but his mind was only on Miriah. He almost tripped on the step, but Aric reached out to steady him and Corso realized he had zoned out. They were outside, and it was getting dusk. "We have two options," Aric told them. "We can wait until dawn, or we can keep moving. I think we're safe to travel after dark, since I haven't seen one living thing since we arrived."
"I agree," Devin said, "and now we have a trail." He pointed to the distance, seeing several droids with repulsor sleds traveling toward the facility. They started out with renewed purpose, and even Corso had some hope again. As the darkness grew, they saw a glow in the distance. Aric made them stop an hour into their journey for water and to get their bearings. He took out a set of macrobinoculars to scan the distance.
"I can't see where they're going, but we are definitely going in the same direction," he told them, opening a ration bar. "Ugh! I see these haven't improved over the years." He threw one to Corso. "C'mon, man. Gotta keep your strength up." Corso took the bar but didn't open it.
"What do we do if she's not been moved, Aric? What if she's not wherever we're going?" Corso's voice was quiet but the others heard his anxiety.
"Dad, we can only take things as they come. She's somewhere, and we'll find her." Devin stood and hefted his pack, ready to move. The others stood, and Maura hugged Corso. They set off again, and they found the coolness of the night gave them a little more energy. The closer they got to their destination, the more droids they saw, moving in pairs and groups. Devin finally could stand it no longer, and used force speed to take him to the edge of what seemed like a cliff. The glow they'd seen was brighter, and when he reached the edge all he could do was stop and stare.
A half hour later, when the rest of the group arrived, they were stunned into silence. The glow they'd seen from a distance was a huge fire, and they could see piles of carbonite freezing chambers in a circle around the central pyre. Corso fell to his knees, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Finally, Lana voiced her theory. "The facility must be on the decommissioning list. So the droids were clearing it out." She blew out a breath. "Now we just need to find her. Let's each take a pile of these," she said, moving toward the closest one.
"Wait," Aric said. "We'll need to get out of here as soon as we locate her. Lana, can you go back to the shuttle and bring it here? That way, we can get her and go, and not have to fight all night."
"I'll bring it to the far edge of the clearing, over there," she pointed. "You find her, and I'll be here shortly." She smiled at Aric. "Thanks for thinking of it." She set off at a run, at a different but more direct angle than they'd taken to get there, and hoped she could make better time, using the force for speed and sight.
Devin closed his eyes and his force aura grew, the light surpassing that of the fire, the force touching each of the eleven piles of carbonite chambers. Finally it receded, and Devin's face lit up. "There!" he said, and took off toward the discarded prisoners. He and Aric worked as a pair, as did Corso and Maura. They lifted each large framed prisoner, inspected them and then gently placed them in a pile. As they worked, Devin came up with a plan. "We can't just leave them for the droids to destroy," he told Aric.
"We also can't free them all," Aric said. "We have no way to rescue them."
"Maybe we can just destroy the droids, and see if there's a way to send someone for them?"
Aric thought about that as they lifted the next prisoner. "Are you sure that the galaxy isn't better off with them here?"
"What if we hadn't been in time? Would you have wanted Mom to die like this?" Aric grew silent at that. He was about to answer when they heard Corso shout.
"Here! She's here!" They rushed over and with all four of them, they lifted the carbonite chamber up and started toward the meeting point. They made it with only a few seconds to spare before the next group of droids guided their loaded sleds into the clearing.
Lana guided the shuttle into the appointed spot and immediately saw the group, the carbonite chamber standing with them. Corso's joy was almost palpable, even inside the small vessel. Thank the stars, she thought, and lowered the ramp for the party to board.