Darth Marr stepped off the speeder and surveyed the green, gently rolling hills of the Riggs Ranch. Peaceful, he thought, I can see why they enjoy this life. Very different from the war raging now. He took a step forward and was surprised to feel the cold steel of a blaster barrel touching his temple, around the hood he'd pulled over his face. Reacting instinctively, he started to force choke the one he'd had Lana save. Damn! How could she get around him? Before he could let go of the choke hold, he was frozen, unable to move. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw the Jedi. The blinding white light poured from his upper body, but Marr saw the tendrils of darkness over his feet and lower legs.
Miriah fell to her knees, coughing, but with a smile on her face. "It's Marr," she told them, and saw Devin holding the Sith as if he were nothing. Instead of letting up, Devin approached Marr and tossed his hood back, revealing the familiar mask.
"Touch my mother again, and I promise you, it will be the last thought in your head," Devin said, more with the force than his voice. Marr saw the deadly calm in the young Jedi's eyes, and knew he had possibly made an enemy of the strongest force user he'd ever encountered. He tried to nod, but managed only a slight lowering of his brow, before Devin released him. He, too, fell to the hard ground, and simply sat there, stunned.
Corso had dropped his rifle when he saw Miriah being attacked, taking off from his rooftop vantage point at a dead run. He could barely see through the red haze of anger, and fell most of the way down the stairs to the attic. Landing in a heap at the bottom, he barely registered his injuries, instead bursting though the door.
"I'm very sorry," Miriah told Marr as he stood, brushing the grass and dirt off his black robes. "With the hood, we weren't sure who you were." Corso stood behind her now, a deep scowl on his face.
"I should think they're aren't many visitors here, at least not Sith," Marr growled, adjusting his armor. He was reluctantly impressed that the captain had ambushed him, and eyed her thoughtfully. "Your recovery appears complete, Captain. Are you ready to be tested on the battlefield?"
Miriah sighed, she was on day four of her week of rest and hydration, and it was driving her mad. "I have one medical hurdle to pass, and then I'm good to go," she told him, meeting his gaze. Corso had put his hand on her shoulder, and she could feel it twitch. She knew that her husband was very close to throwing a punch, and to avoid any further conflict, she turned and hugged him. "Let's go inside, in case any eyes are watching." Marr agreed, and followed them into the house. Devin followed, and as he walked inside, he felt Mia's force presence. Everything is fine here, false alarm, he thought, and felt her acknowledgment.
Magdalane had felt the force disturbance as well, and after calling Aric, she and Felix raced to the ranch. They found the group in the family room, Corso's anxiety readily apparent. Devin sat between Darth Marr and his mother, and looked ready to defend her at any provocation, intentional or otherwise. Mags thought she might know what had happened from the look on the faces around her, but sat quietly and didn't ask.
Maura and Aric came running through the back door, arriving only seconds after Mags and Felix. They both skidded to a stop when they saw the group calmly sitting. Aric did notice that Corso's hands were flexing, as if he'd like to hit something, but he thought it was due to the unexpected visit. As they all got seated, Miriah spoke. "We are waiting on an armor order, and we should be ready by next week."
Darth Marr tilted his head to look at the tiny, black haired woman. "What do you mean, we?" He surveyed the group, wondering if they all planned to fight. The men seemed more than ready to do battle, but the women? "Who among you have ever even seen combat?" he sneered.
Maura stood, and the cloak of command draped her, the authoritative presence she'd never lost very much in evidence. "I am the former commander of Havoc Squad, and Aric was my XO. We've seen plenty of combat, Sith. We will be a part of this mission." Aric stood beside her, a low growl emanating from his throat. Magdalane tried to send out calming waves of force power, but they seemed to not affect anyone.
"I, too, have seen combat, though mostly as a diplomat. I serve the force, and can fight as well as anyone here," Mags said. "Felix was career military until he became my protector, he is well versed in battle, too."
Marr studied the group. This is a family, to be sure, he thought. But a fighting unit? He had his doubts, except that Miriah had gotten the drop on him before, he'd not seen her husband on the roof, and then there was Devin. The Jedi alone would be a powerful ally, but all together? Maybe, he mused. Just maybe.
The group moved into the kitchen, except for Marr and Devin, who continued to watch each other warily. They appeared to be discussing the weather, or current events. "You are able to use both light and dark, then?" Marr finally asked. Devin nodded, his eyes never leaving the black robed figure. "That is… interesting. I feel no large dark force from you, but then the overwhelming presence of light force is nauseating." Marr shifted, pulling his robe around to cover his durasteel chestpiece. "I suppose you might present a challenge to me, should we spar." They continued to sit in silence, until Devin spoke, his voice soft.
"I know my mother has some purpose in your vision, in your plan. I meant what I said before. If I see that you would harm her, I will end you," the young Jedi said, the same calm strength in his voice as before. "If you truly mean to end this Valkorian's domination, then I will fight with you." Marr heard the underlying resonance in his vow, and slowly nodded.
"We have a truce, then," Marr said, extending his hand. Devin gingerly took the gloved hand to shake, and when Marr felt the zing of force power, it made his heart race. So much power, he thought. Even tempered, it is stronger than most. When they'd ended the contact, Marr had to resist the urge to take his glove off and inspect the spot that still tingled there.
As the group discussed strategy and weapons, Devin looked around the room. Lana should be here, he thought. This was her mission. He could feel the dark force waves around Marr, but he ignored them, knowing he was more than enough to counter if the Sith lord decided that he was wrong about going forward. He'd let Mia know that he would be back at the temple this evening, and the thought of seeing her momentarily distracted him. Mags felt his shift and lifted her eyebrow at him. He blushed and returned his attention to the discussion at hand, not seeing his aunt's smirk.
Sarai had kept Calypso away from the ranch house, and now they were happily cooking together. They hadn't discussed what was coming, but Sarai knew that Corso and Miriah had already had a talk with their daughter. Calypso didn't seem worried, but Sarai didn't pry. She knew well enough that the young girl would go through stages of missing her parents, especially since she'd just gotten her mother back. Calypso brought it up, though, when they were taking a break outside on the deck. "Mom and Dad told me what's going on, and I guess you're stuck with me, Nana."
Sarai smiled at her granddaughter. "I am happy to have you here, sweetie. I get lonely when everyone is away. I know you just got your mom back, are you okay with all of this?" Sarai expected a frown or maybe even tears, so when Caly just smiled at her, she was taken aback.
"No, I'm not worried about them. Dev is going with them. He is stronger and smarter than anything or anyone else in the whole galaxy," she said, with the certainty of youth. "He won't let anything happen to Mom." Sarai felt the truth of that statement and stayed quiet, wondering if her granddaughter was right.
The group inside the ranch house were quietly discussing tactics when a loud thump sounded outside. Instantly, the hum of lightsabers and the whine of plasma weapons thundered through the group, and cautiously, they advanced to the front of the house. Corso peeked out the side window, and powered his blaster rifle down. He walked to the door, snatched it open and peered outside. The golden droid stood with a datapad in his hand.
"Statement: Items in this shipment must be acknowledged before possession can be transferred," the droid said, and waved his datapad at Corso. He grabbed it, scribbled a signature and watched the droid as it returned to its delivery speeder. He turned to see Miriah smiling at him, and something in him relaxed. He and Aric moved the large crate into the training room before returning to the others. Aric caught his arm before they'd reached the kitchen.
"I want details about what went down here before we arrived," he said softly, glancing around them. Corso told his friend everything, and saw Aric's frown when he heard about Miriah. "Spitfire's okay?" Corso nodded, and they entered the kitchen.
By the evening, Marr had returned to his ship and Corso finally had Miriah alone, lying in his lap in the porch swing. "Are you sure you don't need to be scanned?" he asked her.
"I'm fine, sugar. Devin caught him before any damage could be done, except to his pride," she snorted, the image of the great and powerful Darth's feet dangling off the ground making her grin. "And, wow, never saw Dev with the dark force before. That must be something he learned after I was gone."
"He told me he had learned that emotion and passion could be effectively harnessed and used, as long as he was aware which side he was using. That was right after your disappearance. Today, though, that was new even for me." He wrapped his arms around her, and they were quiet for a bit before Miriah sat up suddenly.
"We have a large crate in our training room, unopened," she said, and made her way inside. When Corso joined her, she had opened the end of the crate and started pulling out pieces of armor, stacking them by size. Maura's set was obvious, the gray and black pieces new and shiny. All of the male armor was black with gold accents, and looked to be finely crafted. Corso whistled as Miriah handed him a set in his size.
"I think this is the nicest armor I've ever had," he said. Miriah thought back to the days when they were looking for her ship, and they'd both had to use whatever they could put their hands on. She used to joke with him that his armor was so many different colors, he looked like he'd taken a nap near a child care center, and the kids had used markers on his armor. The thought brought a smile to her lips, and she glanced over at her husband, love in her eyes.
Finally, she pulled out a wrapped package, and placed it on the floor beside her. When she lifted the black leather jacket with pink accents, her face lit up and she sighed. "Maura knows me so well," she murmured. Standing, she stripped down and tried on the leather. Corso stared at her, seeing how well the leather pants molded to her body, the jacket hugging her breasts, and the boots. Oh sweet heaven, the boots, he thought, and turned away from her to try and catch his breath. He'd always loved the tall boots, and that's what Maura had ordered for her. "Look, sugar, this is perfect!"
"It sure is," he growled. "Hope I don't tear any of if when I rip it off you." He hauled her up over his shoulder amid her giggles and ran down the hall to their bedroom.
Marr made his report to Lana soon after he'd left orbit. "Your captain is doing well, and I think we will be ready to proceed shortly," he said, seeing Lana's nod of agreement.
"The family, they are all ready, then?" she asked. Marr stared at her, not sure about what he was seeing.
"You knew the family would be involved," he asked, "but didn't think to let me know that?" He slammed down the glass he'd been holding, now ridged with the outline of his fingers. Lana kept her gaze steady.
"I did think that, once she'd returned, they would be very reluctant to lose contact with her. I did not know of any concrete plans," she answered, but the tiny smile inside her fought for release. Marr said nothing for several seconds, then abruptly ended the call. Lana let the smile stretch her face. I was right, she said to herself.