Lorash fidgeted with her pocket light, one of the few leftovers from her life of exploring ruins with Master Vori. The small orb took on a faint blue glow and hovered up to sit at shoulder height. She hadn't had any time to move Seia, so they were still in the room that had once held the sith bones. Once there was some illumination, she tucked her jacket under Seia's head. The warrior was burning up like she had the worst fever Lorash had ever witnessed.

The comm was still pinging. "Seia, are you there? Seia?"

As soon as she realized it was their pilot friend, Lorash grabbed the comm off the floor. "Eso, are you alright?"

"Lorash?" He sucked in a breath. "Wasn't expecting to hear your voice again. We're beaten to hell, but Yyrfh and I are still alive. Where's Seia?"

It occurred to Lorash then that she couldn't tell from just his voice if Eso was captured or still free. If he'd been caught, it was probably wiser not to let on that Seia wasn't fighting fit at the moment. "She's busy right now. There's a lot going on down here."

Eso laughed, but the sound was so nervous that it was almost unrecognizable. "Tell me she has a plan."

I wish. Instead of saying so, Lorash knew she needed to fish for more information. "It would help if we knew what was going on top-side. Are you still in control of the ship?"

"No, he's not." Menace oozed from those syllables like motor oil. Lorash shivered at the unfamiliar voice seizing control of the conversation. "I would advise you and your friend to cooperate with me. Unfortunate things may come to your pilot if you are excessively frustrating."

Lorash took a deep breath, drawing in what calm she could. Seia was with her. Seia would know what to do—as soon as she was awake, anyway. "Who are you?"

"My identity is immaterial at the moment. All you need to know is that if you and your friend do not disable that force-field and come out, I will kill the pilot and the wookie. Am I understood?"

Lorash bit her lower lip. She needed a good line to delay. At least in this case, her best excuse was an honest one. "We don't know how to deactivate it. We weren't the ones who turned it on. We'll turn it off and come out, but you have to give us some time to search the ruin for the controls."

"She's lying!" a familiar voice spat. Lorash remembered the voice of the sith apprentice who'd dueled Seia before all too well. Apparently, he had survived his wounds.

"Perhaps she is, but I have my orders from Inquisitor Zul," the man in charge said thoughtfully. "One hour."

Lorash looked over at Seia's unconscious form. She did not know how long the sith was going to take to wake up. "Please—"

He interrupted her request almost immediately. "One hour. I suggest you start searching." The connection died with a soft chime.

Lorash cursed and covered her face with trembling hands. If they complied, they would be captured too. She looked over at Seia's unconscious form and sucked in a deep breath. There was no way she was abandoning Seia in this condition to hunt through the ruins. They could ask Nabeila to open the force-field when they made their way back to the surface. At least, that was the hope.

Still, even knowing they were going to be captured and face death or worse, Lorash felt no regret over her decision to return.

It was almost forty minutes into their allotted time when Seia stirred. Lorash sat beside her with a worried look, heart sinking at the sight of dark bruise-like circles around those burning eyes. For a moment, Seia seemed unfocused and her words came thickly. "Where is my apprentice?"

"Yaikâ is gone, Seia." Lorash spoke gently, but it did nothing to stop the pain in Seia's expression. "Do you remember me?"

Seia pulled in a deep, painful breath. "I remember you, Lorash." She eased herself up into a sitting position. "What is the situation?"

"We have twenty minutes to lower the shield and make it out before they kill Eso and Yyrfh," Lorash said quietly. "I don't know if we can get around being captured."

Seia bared her teeth. "We should fight."

Lorash sighed. "There are a lot of them, Seia, and you're still feeling the effects of whatever you did. I don't think that's a battle we'll survive."

"And you expect them to be merciful?" the sith challenged. "They will torture us. Eso and Yyrfh may already be dead."

"I know," Lorash admitted. "That's why I've been waiting for you to wake up. Your sense is better than mine. If you can still feel them, there's hope."

Seia closed her eyes, concentrating through her tempestuous thoughts. "They are alive. I feel their fear and pain."

"Then we need to get moving."

"Exposing care for them is exposing weakness," Seia said sharply.

Lorash took a deep breath. "I know you care about them, Seia. If the imps think keeping Eso and Yyrfh alive will prevent us from attacking them, they'll keep them alive. We need to leave the ruin one way or another anyway. Are you strong enough to stand?"

Seia forced herself up from the ground, but almost fell over. Lorash caught her as she rose to her own feet. Her arms around Seia touched burning flesh: the sith was still running her terrible fever.

Lorash refused to let Seia pull away even when she felt the sith trying to. "I promised I would stay with you, Seia. Let me help you."

The sith went rigid for a moment, clearly debating her options. Then she relaxed ever so slightly, allowing her weight to rest against Lorash's shoulder. Seia was a densely muscled woman and leaned heavily, but the jedi padawan had been training for difficult times. "We should get walking," Seia muttered, one hand gripping her lightsaber where it hung from her belt. "Nabeila is still around?"

"I haven't seen her since she promised to delay them," Lorash said. With the light bobbing on ahead of them, they picked their way through the ruins. She felt every tick of a second passing as they walked. Lorash wrapped an arm around Seia's waist to steady her more as they walked. "How are we going to get out of this?"

Seia sighed. "By biding our time. I hope you are prepared to endure the Dark Side's torments and temptations, Lorash. What awaits is not kind."

"I'll survive."

The sith smiled ever so faintly. "Such confidence."

A return of Seia's abrasive sarcasm sent a wave of relief through Lorash. It was some sign that she'd at least been partially forgiven. Ahead, a blue glow announced Nabeila's presence.

The force ghost turned to face them, eyes softening slightly at the sight of them. "I have prevented your hunters from entering, but there is a formidable force outside."

"We're going to have to surrender," Lorash said quietly, ignoring the way Seia seethed at the very suggestion. "We can fight and win in a different circumstance."

"I agree with the assessment." Nabeila's ghost approached. "Allow me to help you again, Lorash. My knowledge could defend and train you in the face of what is coming."

"By sharing again? Won't they notice?" Lorash wasn't opposed to having Nabeila's support in the back of her mind, even if it meant not being alone in her body.

"I am quite good at hiding."

Lorash turned to face Seia. "What do you think?"

Seia's glowing eyes seemed wary, but resigned. "We need every advantage we can gain." The sith closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, the glow was gone except for a golden hue to her irises.

The padawan gave Nabeila a nod and the force ghost passed into her body like a calm ripple of cool water. Immediately, the force-field evaporated.

Seia's movements grew weaker and weaker as they stepped out together into view. Lorash pulled the sith tight against her side. There was nothing she could really do to protect Seia from the squad of stormtroopers with blaster rifles readied, but they didn't seem intent on killing either Lorash or the sith just yet.

"You will surrender your weapons to me," an officer said coldly, moving directly into their path.

Even weakened and feverish, Seia's glare made him take a step back. "Choose your favorite organ," she spat. "I will gladly surrender mine there."

Lorash squeezed Seia meaningfully, most of her attention now focused just on keeping the sith warrior from collapsing altogether. "Seia, remember what we talked about. Your pride is doing you no favors."

"I do not require favors." Seia dropped her hand to her lightsaber, fingers ghosting over it lovingly for a moment. Lorash felt a sudden surge of strength in the sith, an appetite for destruction that begged to be sated. Then the sith unhooked the lightsaber from her belt and seemed to savor the cold dread that broke out across the man's face at the realization of what he might be dealing with. "I will remember how this relic is treated." With that said, she tossed the saber to the officer.

Lorash gave the man a faint smile that was meant to defuse some of Seia's aggression. It probably came across as weakness, but that couldn't be helped. "You'll have to come get mine. I have my hands full."

"Sergeant Ronos, if you would," the officer said crisply.

The stormtrooper squad commander stepped forward and unhooked the long handle from Lorash's belt. She made no movement to resist, something that sent a wave of relief crashing through him strongly enough to be felt easily even with her imperfect grasp on sense.

"Cuff them."

Lorash sighed. "You don't have to do that. We'll come willingly. Besides, if I let go, who's going to keep her calm? I promise you that cuffs are far less effective restraints on her than I am."

Seia gave her a withering glare and Lorash imagined it would be a while before she heard the end of that comment. The sith didn't try to pull away, however, which was the important thing.

Before the officer could render his decision, he put a hand to his ear in answer to a comm message. "Yes, my lord?" There was a paused and he inclined his head respectfully even though he was not speaking in person. "Of course, my lord." Then he refocused on Lorash and Seia. "Inquisitor Zul will see you now, without restraints. He wished only to remind you of your situation and the lives of your friends. Follow me."

"Understood," Lorash said. She could feel Seia seething, but even the sith was fully remembering that this was not a situation where fighting immediately was the best course of action.

Seia exhaled sharply, leaning into Lorash a little more as they started to move again. "Even if they separate us, I will not leave you," she murmured, tapping Lorash's temple briefly.

The idea of that separation sent a wave of fear through Lorash. "Okay," she said thickly.

Be strong, Nabeila's voice whispered. Neither Seia nor I will abandon you.

Lorash pulled in a deep breath and gave Seia a small squeeze. "I won't leave you, whatever happens. Just remember that."

"I know."

Lorash felt the doubt hidden in those two words, like a kernel of poison left by Yaikâ's murder. She tightened her grip on Seia. "I mean it. If something happens to me, I'll just do what Nabeila did and haunt you."

Seia nodded slightly and Lorash realized that even if the sith wasn't saying it or showing it to the outside world, there was some piece of her that hated the idea of separation, particularly separation forever.

Maybe Lorash's promise in front of the bones had meant more to Seia than the padawan had realized.