Solasta waited for Maura to catch up to her, and they walked a few paces in silence. "He loves you," she finally said, and Maura blushed.
"We've been together a long time," Maura replied softly, a sweet smile on her face. "We fought together in Havoc, then started our own business, doing planning for the military. By the time our kids were grown, the world was a very different place." Memories passed through her mind's eye quickly.
"I've missed that, having someone," Solasta said. "When my parents died, I got a friend of Dad's to help me enlist, and since then, I've only ever been a soldier." They were nearing the relay, and stopped to watch as the Dreamweaver flew low over them. Maura laughed when she saw Ian waving from the rear turret.
"That's Miriah," she said, pointing up.
"You mean her ship?" Solasta asked.
"No, her. She's flying it, no one else would be that crazy," Maura laughed. Solasta looked at her with a frown.
"She would really be down here? Fighting?"
"She wouldn't be anywhere else. Miriah is a fighter, she spent five years in carbonite, only to come back stronger, smarter. She says Arcann owes her five years of her life, and she wants it back." They saw skytroopers fall under the ship's guns, and moved forward, their conversation ended with the chatter of cannon fire. They saw the sentry knights hop on speeders and leave, and moved forward, taking out small groups as they went. When they reached the relay, Maura saw the force field shimmer. "Aric," she called over the comm. "We have a force field. Can you see any power source?"
"Looking," he replied, then, "See the yellow conduit? Follow it around to the two switches on the top, then come back underneath the platform for the third."
"Thanks, hon," she told him, and with a nod, she and Solasta set out to clear the knights remaining on the station. Once they'd hopped down to the lower power conduit, Maura saw Solasta look around them, taking in the marsh and water.
"I always thought this would be enough, that I'd be a soldier until I retired or died, and that would be sufficient," the Cathar said. "Now, I'm not so sure about that anymore. I'm not sure about anything."
Maura stopped and turned to Solasta. "You have choices, Solasta. The Alliance needs your skill set, and I think you need us, too." They instinctively ducked as they heard the freighter in a low flyby over the platform, and Maura shook her head, biting back a laugh. Miriah is having too much fun, she thought.
Once the force field dropped, the women entered the area, and Solasta drove the spike home. Immediately they heard Theron's voice over the comms channel. "Good news is it works. We can see all the communications between the forces and Arcann. Bad news? You have incoming," he said, and they could hear blaster fire in the background.
"Let's get out of here," Solasta said, and Maura turned to leave. Before she could get to the door, there were droids moving in. Both assault cannons boomed, and metal rained over the area, until they could get out of the station.
They reached the center of the platform where they'd come in, and Maura was having trouble hearing. The noise of the cannons in such a confined space had her ears ringing, and she was unaware of Aric's warning of a large war droid heading their way. Solasta saw the sunlight reflect of the shiny dome of the huge machine, and nudged Maura, whose eyes widened when she saw the monstrosity. Solasta used her hands to describe the attack, as she was having trouble hearing, too, and they split up.
Solasta waited until the perfect moment to start her attack, and successfully took out the smaller droids as Maura attacked the large one. She saw Maura take a plasma bolt to her armor, but it seemed to only make her mad, and Solasta let out a sigh of relief before aiming her cannon again. It took several minutes, but they finally downed the war machine, and met in the center of the platform.
Maura realized her hearing loss was fading, and slapped Solasta's armored shoulder. "Damn fine fight," she said with a grin. Before Solasta could reply, they saw more droid coming from the entrancet to the platform as more parachuted down. Maura sighed. "Any last words?" she asked Solasta, sure there was no way out.
"Stow that garbage!" Solasta shouted, and aimed her cannon. Before she could fire, however, they saw multiple grenades roll into the group, and ran for cover. When the platform was clear again, they looked around to find Pashna, the exile's leader, with the group they'd rescued the day before.
"We decided it was time to stand up for ourselves," Pashna said, his voice slightly quivering. Without another word, they all left the platform, and Aric met them at their speeder.
"Sure is good to see you both," he said, taking their weapons and helping them into the speeder. They were silent as they started back to the camp, and when Aric looked around, he saw Maura with her eyes closed, not used to the rigors of combat. He looked at Solasta, who nodded at him.
"The distraction went off without casualties?" she asked, and saw Aric nod.
After they'd reached the camp and gathered, Theron had only good things to say. "It's working, and working well," he said, the excitement apparent in his eyes. "Everything went according to plan, and we can head back. Colonel, please accept our invitation to join us."
Solasta took a moment to think it over. "I believe in your Alliance, it makes more sense than anything else I've seen in a long time. But.." she hesitated, looking around her, "I think I'd be more help here, working with the exiles."
Maura walked to where the career soldier stood. "Are you sure, Solasta? We would keep you busy, training troops and doing missions. We have plenty of room, for all of you, even the exiles." Her voice was low, meant for Solasta only. The Cathar stood very still before slowly nodding.
"They need me more than you do. Make no mistake, I'm with you, we discussed it last night. Havoc belongs to the Alliance." Solasta put her hand on Maura's shoulder. "But we'll work here. I can travel back and forth as needed, for supplies or tactical updates." Maura nodded, and Solasta turned to the exiles. "We need supplies."
"Of course," Aric said. "I've already arranged for some to be air dropped later today." Solasta thanked him. "We can go whenever you're ready, Colonel. I'll make sure you get back." Solasta looked at Aric, saw the sincerity in his eyes, and turned to instruct her XO about the supplies. When she'd finished, she picked up her pack.
"Let's jet," she said, and Maura grinned at her.
Once airborne, they settled in and talked. "Nervous?" Maura asked, seeing Solasta moving restlessly in her seat.
"A little, I guess. I've been wondering since we left Coruscant the last time if I'd be taken into custody, tried for treason," she responded.
Maura snorted. "I can assure you that will not happen. Miriah will probably just hug you." Solasta stared at the woman, and Maura laughed. "She will. This is not the Republic. We operate with few rules other than mutual respect and a common goal. Even the drunken bar fights end with everybody sleeping it off."
Solasta frowned at that. "So everyone really just either gets along or ignores each other and gets the job done?" Maura nodded. "Not even a detention cell?" Maura shook her head. Solasta thought that over, and soon they landed on Odessen. As they climbed out of the shuttle, Solasta stopped Maura with a hand on her arm. "I'd like the opportunity to clean up a little, look more presentable, before I meet the Commander."
Maura smiled at her new friend. "Of course, let me show you where you'll be staying." Aric nodded at them and made his way to the war room while Maura took Solasta to a room over the cantina.
"Present to the secure elevators in one hour. I'll clear you to the command post," she told Solasta, who thanked her.
Miriah had been notified of her sister's return, and hurried from her office to meet her. When she saw Aric, she grinned and hugged him. "Whoa, Spitfire. I figured you'd still be doing barrel rolls over Zakuul," he joked.
"It was a rush, so much fun," she said, and saw Corso approaching them. "I think I scared Corso, though."
"She did," he confirmed, pulling his wife into his arms. "I need a lot of reassurance now, some TLC. You might want to cover your eyes, Aric." He turned her giggling face to his and kissed her, while Aric made choking noises.
Lana observed them, and had to smile. She'd been informed that Colonel Dinn had arrived, and was looking forward to meeting her. She'd also been informed that Theron had returned, and was already anticipating seeing him in her bed later. All in all, she sighed happily, a good day.
Maura joined them, and when they moved into the apartment to chat, told Miriah about the colonel. "She wants to be embedded with the exiles, to help them, train them," she explained.
"Hmm, might be a good thing. Then, when we're ready to cut off the head of the snake, he won't see them coming," Miriah mused. "You like her," she observed.
Maura nodded. "I do," she replied. "She is who I would have been, without Aric. I want to show her that she's not alone, that she had people who care, and will support her." Miriah could see the emotion in her sister's eyes, and hugged her.
"We will," Miriah said. "Is she staying tonight? We could have dinner, all of us."
Maura smiled. "I'll ask her." Her datapad chimed, and Maura looked at it. "She's at the elevators."
"Let's go meet her," Miriah said, and stood. She wore the black tunic she'd become fond of, her eyes ethereal and sparkling silver, and looked every inch the Alliance Commander until she grinned. They left the apartment with Aric and Corso and made their way to the war room, where Solasta was being escorted. Miriah approached the colonel and held out her hand. "Colonel Dinn, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said, and when Solasta gripped the outstretched hand, Miriah pulled her close and hugged her. When they parted, Solasta had a smile on her face.
"Maura said you'd do that," she stated. "It's a distinct pleasure to meet you as well." They chatted for a few minutes, and Maura and Aric took her on a tour of the base. They'd agreed to meet for dinner, and Miriah watched them leave, Corso's arm around her. Lana joined them after meeting Dinn.
"She's quite a leader, Theron says. Her squad will be very valuable, even staying on Zakuul gives us an edge. The data coming in from the relay is invaluable." She turned to leave, but Miriah stopped her.
"Colonel Dinn lost her family at an early age. Maura feels strongly that we should be her family. What do you think?" she asked.
"She already is," Lana said. "We all are in this together. It feels like an extended family to me."
"Join us for dinner," Miriah invited. "Show her how this all works." Lana agreed. "Bring Theron, I'm sure he will happy as long as you're there." Lana blushed, but nodded.
By the time they met for dinner, Solasta had a good idea of how the Alliance worked. She was impressed with the advances they'd made, and for reasons she couldn't identify, she felt comfortable with these people. For the first time since Arcann had taken her galaxy hostage, she felt hope. All around her, she saw people working for a common goal, working and living together to further that goal, and realized, finally, that she was home.