"Well, that makes a tad more sense, then," Miriah said, looking at her family. "If Rachel is who we think she is, then she would have had to eliminate her 'husband' in order to direct the insurrection here." She looked at the video screen, and sighed. This had just become more complicated than she was willing to risk Devin's safety for. "General, I will be taking our children into orbit on the Stardancer. " She turned to where Garza stood, at parade rest, watching the operation. "They are no longer safe here on the ground." The general nodded, her concern greater than what she showed them. The group gathered on their speeders and set off for the house they'd been living in. Miriah had sent word ahead to C2 to start gathering the children's things for transport to the ship.
Corso was conflicted. He knew Devin would be safer in orbit, but wasn't sure where he would need to be and hated being parted from his son. They rode home in a subdued state, thinking about what they'd seen. If Rachel was married to that guy, why did she kill him? Could Miriah ever kill me? Or I her? I don't see how, he thought. As they dismounted the speeders outside the house, Miriah stopped him. "Sugar, would you go to the spaceport and make sure the ship is fueled and ready? I want Devin away from this, from her." He saw the anxiety in her face, and nodded, hugging her hard. He kissed her, told her he loved her, and that he'd be back here soon. Miriah felt a pang of separation when he climbed aboard the speeder, a sense of unease as she watched him go.
"He'll be back here soon," Maura said, unsure why Miriah was visibly uneasy. Miriah shook herself and went inside, getting Devin in her arms would help, she thought. Her son was his normal sunny self, and she walked around the house, gathering the things she'd brought and deciding what to take now. She knew anything she left, the soldiers would pack and ship to her, but she wanted to do as much of it as she could.
Tanno got Aric's attention and motioned to him to come to the workroom. "Boss, I found something on the financials. This Rachel Ulgo has been getting money from the Torvix gang, the same ones on Corellia now and who used to be the Seperatist Union. " He looked around, making sure they were alone. "There's some rumors I saw that say this woman is very well connected in the Empire. Just rumors, though." Aric nodded, he'd suspected that much firepower and money had to have long roots.
"We're putting the kids on the ship, into orbit, so that they're away from this mess. Not sure which of us will go up to take care of them, but I'm hoping to talk Miriah and Maura into it. That okay with you?" Tanno agreed, told Aric he could count on his help with whatever needed to be done, and they parted, Tanno to go speak to his contacts, Aric to begin the arduous job of convincing the women to take the kids and be safe.
He found Maura with the twins, telling them they were going to have an adventure on the ship. Colin was excited, he loved space travel. Calleigh just wanted to know where her mama would be. Aric sighed when he heard Maura tell her that she would be with her sometimes and sometimes it might be somebody else. He walked into the room then, and gave Maura a look. She shook her head, there was no way she was leaving him here to fight this mess without her, but she would rather be with the kids. We should just pack up and go home, she thought, we really can't do anything more here. She stood and walked to Aric, who put her arms around his wife and growled low in his throat, "Just go with them, honey, they need you there and I want to know that you all are safe." He looked at her, then said, "We should all just go."
"Exactly," she said, grinning up at him. He kissed her, making the kids giggle, and she went to find Miriah. Her sister was already packing her things.
"Hey, you figured it out too, eh?" Miriah laughed. There was no way she was leaving Devin until that nutjob who used to go out with her husband was out of the picture. She shivered as she remembered that body in the basement holding cells, and continued to pack as Maura picked Devin up to snuggle.
"I sent Corso to check on the ship, fuel and such. I'll pack his stuff too, and we can just meet him there. Are the twins okay with being on the ship a few days?"
"Colin is looking forward to it. Calleigh just wants to be wherever we are, she's such a girly girl." That made Miriah smile, she always thought it was so funny that the solider, the career military woman, had a daughter who'd rather be fashionable than armed. She finished her packing and moved on to Corso's things, which was easy. When she was done, she took Devin to the living room, and tried to reach Corso on the holo. Hmm, no answer, she thought, maybe he can't hear it on the ship or if he's doing a walkaround. She shrugged, that earlier vague uneasiness growing.
Corso had reached the spaceport and checked out the ship, seeing that she'd been well taken care of in the last couple of weeks. The fueling had been done and he ordered some supplies and food to be brought out, and sat on the ramp to wait for it, looking around the spaceport. He spotted the cantina across from where he sat and went over to get a beer while he waited. He'd only been sitting there a few minutes when he saw Tanno Vik come in and sit with two men across the room. Must be some of his contacts, he thought, watching as they talked and laughed easily. He smiled, looking forward to being home soon.
Rachel watched as Corso smiled into his beer mug. He's probably thinking about his wife, she smirked to herself. Well, we'll just have to beat that out of him, she thought, once he's taken. She motioned to the barmaid that she'd paid off months ago to help her, and gave the woman a vial containing a clear liquid. The barmaid nodded, and went to fix the concoction that would render a man twice Corso's size unconscious.
Corso watched the dark haired woman closely. Her hair had caught his attention, since the only woman he'd ever seen with hair that black was his wife. She seemed familiar, he thought, but maybe it's just that her hair looks like Mir's. He shrugged and watched the ship, waiting on the supplies. He looked up as the barmaid set another mug in front of him. She smiled and took the empty one, turning back to the bar. He hadn't ordered another, but he wouldn't turn it down. He looked around the bar again, the black-haired woman was gone, and Tanno was getting up. The Weequay walked over and sat across from Corso.
"Ship ready?" he asked, lifting his hand to ask for another mug. The barmaid brought his beer, and they settled into easy conversation. "Glad the little people will be out of the way on this, and the force help anyone who gets in Spitfire's way on this one." The big man shook his head and laughed. "You must either have the patience of a Jedi or are as stubborn as she is, that is one handful of woman you're married to, Cor."
Corso grinned, feeling very relaxed. "She's something, for sure. Wouldn't trade her for anything, ever." Wow, he thought, this must be very strong beer. His vision was becoming blurry around the edges and he could tell his words weren't sharp. Tanno didn't seem to notice, and kept talking about getting the kids aboard the ship and such. Corso was beginning to list to one side, his hearing and vision going in and out. He finally put his head on the table, unable to keep his eyes open. He could hear Tanno Vik laughing.
Tanno saw Corso start to slide down and wondered how long the Mantellian had been there drinking. The barmaid was walking over to them, and Tanno shook his head, thinking he'd need to get Corso on board the ship. The barmaid suddenly pitched forward into his lap and Tanno, not looking up, tried to catch her, wondering if she'd tripped, when he saw the smoking hole in her back. He looked up to see a tall woman with black hair, and a very large blaster in her hand. She waved the blaster at him, motioning him to stand. When he did, she shot him in the leg, the beer doing nothing to stop the scream of pain he let loose. Corso opened his eyes for a moment then, and saw Tanno fall. He just couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to help him.
Rachel took the butt end of the blaster to Tanno's head, ensuring he'd be out for a while. She didn't want him interrupting her plans. She turned to the unconscious man in the booth and motioned for her associates to take him. They strolled out into the spaceport, Corso being dragged along by two men in Organa armor.
Miriah's senses were on high alert. Something was wrong, she could feel it. Corso would never be out of contact this long. They decided to leave the children after they were napping to try and figure out what was happening. They reached the ship, a pallet of supplies left outside the ramp. Aric went on board to see if Corso was there somewhere and Miriah went to the portmaster's office, checking on flight plans. Maura spotted Tanno, dragging his leg and bleeding, and hurried to him, calling Miriah on her holo as she moved. Miriah rushed to them, and told Maura to help Tanno into the ship.
Once they'd gotten the big man to the medbay, Miriah went to work. "This is from point blank range, Tanno. Did someone sneak up on you?" He grimaced as Miriah worked on his wound.
"It was some black haired woman, I didn't recognize her. But Corso was passed out drunk and she walked up behind the barmaid and shot her in the back. Where's Corso? He might remember it better."
Miriah looked over the injured man at Aric and Maura. "That's a great question, where is he?"
Corso opened one eye, his head pounding and his stomach feeling sick. The motion of the speeder stopped, and he closed the eye again, not wanting to let on that he was at least partially aware. Who is this and what does she want with me, he thought. He saw little as he was taken into a darkened room and placed into a chair. He must have passed out again, because when he was able to open his one eye again, he could see that he was in a windowless room, only a dim light on a table for vision. He was trying to remember exactly what had happened when the black haired woman he'd seen in the cantina strode into the room. She had her back to him, and while her movements seemed familiar he just couldn't place who she was. It was only after she'd turned that he realized what was going on.
The last thing Corso saw before unconsciousness took him under again was the face of Rachel Ulgo, her hair dyed as black as Miriah's, sneering at him as he faded away.