Magdalane had been supporting the group's combat with heals and force shields. They had taken a break and now she sat beside Maura, sipping water and generally just resting. "We'll be pushing into where there are some colonists, Miriah says. This Idair and Nadia both have requested it." Mags merely nodded. The enemies they'd faced so far were the mutated Geonosians, but she could feel the dark side grow the closer they moved to the farms. The thought of bringing the colonists into safety was secondary in her thoughts to facing Imperial troops. Maura chatted on, not noticing Mags silence.

Lana stood at the holo, Solasta's image before her. "Sounds like things are fine there, General. Our group here is fine and Miriah thinks they may be done on Ossus soon. She is lending our temple to those who will be displaced from Ossus, so they need to be alerted."

"Very well," Solasta nodded. "There's just one little bit to discuss." She explained the calls Theron had received and their strategy. Before she finished, she could see Lana nodding.

"It has merit, indeed. We can play it along, see where it goes. Jonas Balkar is a name I've not heard in many years, but you can be sure I will know it well after today." They signed off and Lana lost herself in her computers and datapads. She was jarred from her work by Tali and Declan running around the end of the desk. She scooped them up, one under each arm, and took them, giggling, into the large kitchen. She could see Caly and Mia finishing dinner, Torian just having come from outside.

"It's sleeting," he said, shaking shards of ice from his coat. Nico followed him in, and quickly as they could, they made their way to the fireplace, hands outstretched to catch even a sliver of warmth. Lana quickly built up the fire and moved to allow them closer.

"At least the Commander is warm," she said, and Torian chuckled.

"Hopefully, she'll be here soon, though." He looked at his wife and knew she was already missing her parents.

Miriah looked over the farm area. They'd activated turrets and put out fires, and now they were protecting a droid that Nadia swore held extremely valuable data on their crops and such. Miriah knew that feeding worlds was every bit as important as protecting them, but she wondered just what secrets were worth lives when it came to agriculture. With a sigh, she turned back to where she had just sent the colonists and saw Imperial soldiers, along with another cadre of Geonosians.

Magdalane saw the incoming enemies and set up her shields. She monitored the group closely but then she felt the anger building in her, the rage she'd suppressed so far. Now, she didn't know why she'd tried to push it away. Instead, she let it fill her, feeling the influx of force. Devin turned to look at her, but she ignored him and instead threw her arms in a wide arc in front of her, causing the ground under the soldiers to stumble and move, over and over. She felt the force coming from her grow stronger and she shifted to the next group. When there were no more enemies coming through the narrowed entrance, Mags stopped and immediately emptied her stomach, sick with the thought of what she'd done.

Maura rushed over to her sister and dropped to her knees beside her. "Mags, what did you do?" she asked, and saw the ashen color of her sister's skin and the tears running down her face.

"I had to! For Felix!" Magdalane vomited until there was nothing left and then fell heavily onto the ground. Miriah had been standing back until Mags lay still, then pushed to her side.

"Maggie, you've got to get up. We're going back to the ship," Miriah said, and saw Mags push herself to sit. "Dev, can you help her? We can put her on my speeder..."

"No, I can ride," Mags said weakly, and Miriah handed her a bottle of water.

"Just clear your mouth for now. We'll eat and drink once we're aboard." Miriah directed them all with precision, and Aric made her go before him, just behind Corso. They streaked across the red soil, encountering small groups of mutated bugs along the way, letting them run behind the fully throttled speeders. Just before they could see the command post, the thunder of incoming aircraft had Aric shouting for them to get to cover.

Miriah found an overhang of rock and ducked under it with her speeder, but Devin and Corso remained in the open. Devin could feel the approaching army, and Corso had identified the sound.

"They're here!" came Corso's joyful declaration, moments before the air above them was filled with Republic fighters. Miriah felt her whole body sigh with relief, wanting nothing more than to be on her way to Dantooine the following day.

Lana and Nico held hands under the table, and he could tell that she was tired. She rubbed her eyes with her free hand, and then told Caly how wonderful her dinner had been. Mia saw Lana and sent some force to her, and Lana sighed, relieved. "Thank you, Mia. I don't know how Miriah does this all the time."

Mia laughed. "You both do, but when she's with you, the work is halved. You both work too hard, for sure."

Tali grinned up at Lana, and nodded. She worried when her mama was so tired, that she'd get tired of being with her. Lana bent to kiss her nose and Tali felt all her worry leave. She'd been a good girl all day, working on her lessons with both Miss Mia and Miss Coleen. She would take a bath and kiss her parents before bed, and would say her thanks to the force for them. Nico hugged her close and she lingered on his shoulder. How many years had she hoped, wished and dreamed of having a family, she wondered. She felt a moment of sadness for all the children who had been rescued with her, but she knew that she'd rather die than trade places with any of them. She closed her eyes, listening with her heart as her mama and daddy talked to the others, and with each other, and before she was aware of being tired, she was asleep.

Miriah pulled Magdalane into the med bay, despite her protests that there was nothing wrong with her. "I think it was just the smell of the bugs," she said, but Miriah was silent, looking at the monitors and putting together an infusion set.

"You're dehydrated and you've lost almost fifteen pounds in the past month," Miriah said after a time, and attached the vitamin infusion to her sister's arm. "Mags, I know you're still grieving. We all are. But you can't let go. We need you."

"I wanted to hurt them, like I've hurt," Mags said on a sob, and Miriah hugged her.

"Remember, long ago, when I was told Corso had died on Makeb? I wanted to kill Regulators until I had made every one of them pay for his death. It didn't help, Mags. And I almost died, too. Nothing changed. They still fought on, replenishing all the ones I'd killed." They sat in silence for a bit, then Miriah stood. "The dark side is not yours, Mags. Devin is the only one I have ever known to use them both. Even our padawans on Odessen call on the light side. Your body couldn't handle the poison of it." Mags nodded slowly, it made sense.

"I still say those bugs smelled bad," she said weakly, and saw Miriah's grin.

Devin knew exactly why his aunt had reacted violently to her rage. He had felt her as she pulled on the dark side and knew she wouldn't be able to control it. Now he felt guilty, letting her try. He had gone to the med bay and saw his mom and aunt hugging, and the rapid purge of the dark force that had remained in Magdalane. She'll be okay now, he knew and went to message Mia, ready to see his wife and children.

Nico put Tali in her bed, and Lana removed her shoes and socks. They left her under her covers, and each kissed her head before going to help clean up from dinner. Mia and Coleen shooed them away, however, and they ended up in their room. Lana ran a hot bath, knowing that her boss loved them and she wanted to see if she could enjoy them as much. Nico came in and sat with her, and they chatted. "Tali worked very hard today, and tomorrow I promised to help her with some Life Day gifts," he told her.

"I bet the weather keeps us all indoors," she replied, and Nico offered her the bottle of water he held. "This truly is relaxing," she murmured, taking a long drink, aware of Nico watching her every move. As the water cooled, she stood and was in Nico's embrace, laughing softly as he took her to their bed.

Theron met Arcann for lunch at the cantina, and grinned at his friend. "Can't help but notice you've been scarce around here lately," he teased, and saw a light flush of color suffuse Arcann's face.

"I've had a couple of days off, and spent most of it with Shae," he confessed, making Theron laugh out loud.

"I had a feeling it was something like that," Theron said, wiping his eyes. "Still,..."

"Shh. Not here. I've been informed there are other players in the game." Arcann's gravely said, and Theron mentally slapped himself. Of course, the first rules of being a spy said you had to only speak in protected spaces.

"You're right," he told Arcann. "I've lost my sharpness."

"You've been through a lot," Arcan replied. They ate in silence, but Theron knew he needed to up his game, especially now. When they parted, he went to General Dinn's office to request computer access. She eyed him warily, but gave a curt nod and turned her own terminal to face him.

"You'll only use the one here, and if I find any key logging or any other programs not put there by me or the Alliance, then you life will be forfeit," she told him, and he acknowledged her words. For over an hour, Theron refreshed himself on all that had transpired since his injury on Nathema, and when he finally stood, he felt more like his old self than he had in months, and thanked the general profusely.

"I was in the dark for so long," he admitted. "Now, at least, I have a point of reference, a context for the current situation"

Solasta nodded. "We'll ask the Commander for computer access for you when she returns. I'd expect to be closely monitored, though. There are things that only time will improve."

"Agreed, and I thank you again." Theron turned to leave, but turned back to Solasta. "Are they making progress on Ossus, at least?"

"I believe they are," Solasta replied, and Theron saw other officers heading their way, their weekly meeting. He went home, his mind filled with all of the things going on in the galaxies

Miriah looked out of the windscreen of the ship, rubbing her wet hair with a towel. The shower was hot and refreshing and she wondered where everyone was. Dressed in casual clothes, she saw a small campfire, and grinned. Everyone was out there, she realized, and hurried to put her boots on to join them.

Aric had brought chairs and they all sat around, joined by Doc and Nadia. The last ship would take off in the morning, right before the Dreamweaver took flight to Dantooine. Miriah could feel Doc staring at her, and tried to ignore it. As the darkness grew, the ale and fire did as well, and Miriah felt herself growing sleepy. She was considering getting up and going into the ship when Doc sat beside her.

"I just can't get that day out of my mind, Commander. You were so close to death. If the planet had been anything other than a deep freezer, you would have. This guy," he pointed at Corso, "was out of his mind scared. I was, too, honestly. If I remember correctly, you have a scar on your right arm, where you threw it up against a knife attack." Miriah nodded, she'd never wanted to think of that day again, but every so often, it would come back. Like today. "I knew you'd heal, and that your face was the same, but it still just hits me, like a punch in the gut, to look at you and know that I did something good. Not just for me, but the whole galaxy." Miriah blushed, but held out her hand to him.

"I'm glad you were on Hoth that day," she said, and he grinned.

"Me, too."

Theron had just drifted off to sleep when his old holo began to chime, and he reached for it without opening his eyes. The voice of the Sith Emperor had him awake and on his feet the next second. "I should have known she'd side with the sniveling Republic," he snarled, and Theron remained silent. "They might have gotten the Jedi out of the way in time, but this won't be the end. Darth Malgus will make her pay for his defeat." Just that quickly, Vowrawn was gone, but his words resonated with Theron. Malgus! Alive? How? He picked up his data pad and sent a message to General Dinn, and after a few seconds of thought, one to Jonas Balkar. If anyone would have info on Malgus, it would be him, Theron thought. He took a beer from the kitchen, wishing it were something stronger but not daring to do it, and sipped the cold beverage. Things had just gotten interesting.