New chapter up. Enjoy!

Rio POV

I sat in one of the uncomfortable seats on the Gravestone, my head resting on the wall behind me. As a career soldier, I could fall asleep almost anywhere, in any position. It was a handy skill to have, since sometimes missions only afforded you a quick power nap, in lieu of a full night's sleep. I desperately needed sleep, but my mind was too active. Too much had happened in the last couple of days.

I felt like I was dying when Lana thawed me out. After she injected me with a serum to cure me of my hibernation sickness, I wished I had died. The serum did the trick, allowing me at least some of my former strength in a matter of minutes, but it hurt like hell and I was nowhere near one hundred percent.

From there, it was a long, hard slog from where I was being held to a pickup site. Of course, things didn't go to plan. We got out of the city, but we also crash landed just outside the city in a swamp, having sustained damage from Zakuul's heavy guns during our escape. Koth was fairly knowledgeable about the place, but considering he was a Zakuulan native, it made sense.

Again, we had a long, hard slog through the swamp, followed by skytroopers and attacked by various native wildlife. By some miracle, maybe the Force if I believed Lana or destiny if you believed Koth, we stumbled upon the Gravestone. After a few days, we were able to get the ship flightworthy, thanks to Koth's vast knowledge of starship repair, and we escaped the planet. Lana had taken a minor hit, but we left with our lives and with a new friend.

Senya was a Zakuulan Knight who didn't agree with Arcann's ruling technique, so she had been helping Lana. Koth hated her with a fiery passion, but I'd take any friend I could get and Lana spoke highly of her. That was good enough for me.

Unfortunately, Valkorion had managed to adhere to my brain. Not sure how or why, but he kept popping up, just like in my carbonite dream, only this time, he was tempting me with his power. The whole concept left me feeling a bit uneasy, but there was little I could do about it, so I played along. I didn't plan to accept his help, that was for damn sure. He may be more powerful, but will to will, we'd see who'd have the last laugh.

Now I sat, trying to sleep, but only managing to reflect on the situation. It had been five years...five full years...since I had been frozen and placed in Arcann's trophy case. Everything I knew was being blown to hell and everyone I knew and cared about were forced to fight for their lives, while I hung on the wall like some macabre ornament.

Lana had known nothing about my squad, though that wasn't a surprise. As good as she was with gathering intelligence, my squad was still the best of the best in the Republic. It might not have helped my state of mind much, but knowing my team was still flying under the radar, helped my morale slightly.

Lana had been able to tell me about my sister. Apparently, Nikka had been helping Lana with my rescue, fortunately, opting out of the rescue plan itself. As much as I wanted to see her, I was happy that she hadn't been there when I was thawed. Getting out of there had been dangerous and though I knew she could take care of herself, it eased my mind to know she was safe.

My mind kept leaping to Elara. Was she alive? Was she still a part of Havoc? Did she wait for me over the last five years or had she moved on? I'd be upset, but not shocked, to find out she had moved on. I'm sure I had been declared dead years ago, leaving her a widow. It made my heart ache just thinking about it, which didn't help my attempt to sleep.

There was just so much I didn't know. Fortunately, the stress on my body from the carbonite freezing, and the constant fighting afterwards, finally forced my mind into a nice, deep sleep.

Lana POV

I had forgotten just how much lightsaber wounds hurt. I tried not to focus on it, but my arm was killing me. Koth had put aside his anger over me asking for Senya's assistance to help me dress the wound and I was now alone in one of the side rooms of the Gravestone, focusing, not only on healing my arm, but also on the major.

I had been shocked to hear that the Sith Emperor was currently located in the major's head. It troubled me to think that our worst enemy was residing so close to everything we had been working for. Unfortunately, Arcann had to be our focus. With any luck, Valkorion would stay out of the way until we found a way to remove him from the recesses of Major Drucos's mind. I was also confident the major wouldn't be tempted by Valkorion's power, since he wasn't the type of man to take the easy way out.

I needed to contact Theron, but the Gravestones communications systems weren't operational and fixing them was not a priority. I'd just have to wait until we reached Asylum to give him the news. I was sure Nikka was probably anxious to hear about her brother's safe return to the land of the living.

I had told the major what I could about the last five years, but considering we were on opposite sides of a war at the time of his disappearance, I had very little I could tell him about the specific details of the Republic, particularly his squad. Information became even harder to come by once the war with the Eternal Empire started. Hopefully, Theron and Nikka would be able to fill in more of the pieces, once we finally arrived on Odessen. Neither of them were necessarily in the main Republic loop, but they had contacts within the Republic I just didn't have.

The major was very happy when I told him his sister was still very much alive and had, in fact, helped plan his rescue. According to Nikka, she was the only blood relative the major had left. At least I could give the man some good news.

I was thankful he was taking some time to rest. We'd all need to recharge for what happened next. I was getting a strange feeling about things to come.

To Be Continued...