:: Chapter Twelve ::

"I've just received some intel on this Outlander persona that I'm sure will interest you," Lana began when she had everyone gathered in the war room beneath the base, "I spoke with a survivor of the crash, someone who was aboard Darth Marr's ship at the time."

"I didn't know there were survivors." Eliza frowned and sipped her caf.

"Only a handful managed to get into an escape pod before the ship went down but they never made it back home—they're on Asylum, a shadowport here in Wild Space," Lana explained. "The man I spoke to, Ralo, used to serve in the Republic Army and was part of Satele's envoy joining Darth Marr's expedition.

"He told me of a Jedi who boarded Marr's flagship just as the assault began—Kira Carsen—which would explain why we've not been able to locate her in the past few years."

Eliza's eyes widened in surprise and she near spat her caf out. "Kira?! Are you sure?"

"That's your former padawan, right?" Me'ghan asked and she nodded.

Lana circled the holo-terminal and pulled up what little information she had on Kira. "I am not one hundred percent sure no, but it would make sense. Someone worth the Emperor's attention must have been there as well the day Darth Marr and Lord Scourge were captured and killed. Someone capable of ending Valkorion's life and worth keeping imprisoned.

"We know Kira was a former Child of the Emperor and though many troops were lost that day, she is the only Jedi who went missing, of whom we still don't know what happened. I have tried to access the Republic's database to scan for any reports but came up empty."

Theron, who'd quietly listened but kept himself in the background, turned to his data-console and got to work.

"Would Regina not have spotted her there?" Lord Cytharat asked next.

"Not necessarily. From what she told me, after Valkorion struck Darth Marr and Lord Scourge down, Vaylin barged into the throne room and dismissed everyone. Save for Arcann and this Outlander, nobody knows the details of what transpired afterward or even how exactly Valkorion met his end."

"Perhaps he died trying to save your friends from Arc—" Koth began but he shut up the second he noticed the fierce scowl on Lana's face.

It was too late though and Eliza turned on him with an incredulous look. "Excuse me? Save my friends? He killed my husband and he killed my great uncle! The only one Vitiate, Valkorion, would ever save is himself! What's wrong with you?!"

"I'm sorry." Koth sighed but then he carried on, "Look I know all of you believe Emperor Valkorion to be this monstrous Vitiate you always speak of but he was a benevolent and good ruler. Under his leadership, Zakuul really prospered and we lived good, peaceful lives."

Me'ghan and Eliza exchanged a look of utter confusion, glanced Lana's way and then back to Koth. Aside from Lana, no one in the room had quite realized just how devoted Koth felt towards Valkorion, and that his experience growing up on Zakuul gave him a wholly different opinion of the former Sith Emperor.

"Mr. Vortena, respectfully, either keep your opinions on Valkorion to yourself from now on or leave this meeting immediately," Malavai said as politely as he could manage before either his wife or Eliza could blow up on Koth.

"Sorry…" Koth mumbled once again.

"Here," Theron called out having found a report in the SIS database, "Kira Carsen was reported missing by Dr. Archiban Kimble following the Eternal Fleet's assault on Darth Marr's flagship. Like Eliza, Kira received and answered Darth Marr's call for assistance after he claimed to have located the Sith Emperor.

"Upon arrival in Wild Space, Darth Marr's flagship was already under attack and Kira boarded the vessel while sending Doc to return to Coruscant and gather reinforcements. It was the last time anyone's seen her or heard from her."

Eliza joined Theron, paying him no mind beyond professional courtesy, while she read the information for herself. "And Doc? Has there been any word on him since then?"

"A couple of arrests—one for threatening Saresh, one for attempting to steal a starship and one for disorderly conduct. An anonymous source bailed him out and he hasn't been heard from since," Theron read out loud.

"He was likely fighting tooth and nail trying to get back to Wild Space, to his wife. I know I would have." Malavai deduced and looked Me'ghan's way, grateful for the fact he never had to.

"Poor guy…" Nyssa lamented.

Eliza wrapped her arms around herself and paced, trying to piece everything together. "Okay so, what you say makes sense but for all we know, this Outlander could be one of the dozens of soldiers who were aboard that flagship instead. Whoever killed Valkorion could have simply shot him, they aren't necessarily a Force user."

"True," Lana admitted, "but I don't think Valkorion would have bothered to save and capture your average soldier—he wouldn't have cared."

"She has a point," Praven agreed, "as his former Child, Kira would have held as much value to Valkorion as Lord Scourge did."

"That's fair. Well, say this Outlander is Kira, where is she now? Imprisoned you said?" Eliza turned back to Lana.

"We suspect so. Rumors are Arcann did not execute his father's assassin."

"I know my way around the Spire, I could get you in." Koth raised his voice rather timidly and did not dare look at anyone other than Lana.

"If all this is true," Vowrawn spoke up at last, "you won't find her in an ordinary cell. Arcann enjoys his trophies, submits any prisoner of importance to carbonite freezing and keeps them in his vault. He gave me a tour once, no doubt to show me where I'd end up if I ever incurred his wrath.

"It's original, I'll give him that," he added with a hint of admiration, only for enjoying the thought of putting his own foes on display in such a fashion.

"Only a fool would leave a threat to his power, alive," Ravage scoffed.

"Oh come now Ravage, I've known you to keep a toy or two for your own amusement." Vowrawn grinned with a twinkle in his eyes. "It's the one thing I actually appreciate about you."

"Never for long and only those so weakened they no longer pose a threat."

Theron scoffed. "Of course."

Ravage raised a brow. "Of course what, Agent Shan?"

"I'm just not surprised you lack the guts and guile to face someone who's—"

"Okayyy…" Me'ghan cut in, "let's cool it with the testosterone flying around here and focus on what actually matters."

"Right. Kira. So, will we be paying a visit to the Spire?" Eliza pulled up a holo-projection of the Spire in Zakuul and observed it closely. "Can we get in there?"

"Getting in won't be too difficult—locating the vault and escaping with Kira, or whoever this Outlander turns out to be, that's the hard part." Lana joined her at the terminal.

"Do we have a layout, schematics?"

"No, but I can acquire those once we're on Zakuul," Theron said, "I can't slice their systems from this location. At least not yet."

"Pity. I guess those shiny little implants of yours are no match for Zakuul's technology huh?" Ravage sneered and Eliza threw him a stern glare.

"Button it unless you have something useful to add!"

"I can get you there. There's a blind spot in the Spire that Zakuul patrols tend to overlook, it has a terminal you can slice into and it'll help us sneak in undetected." Koth offered once more.

"Good, thank you." Eliza faked a smile. She still didn't appreciate his pro-Valkorion stance but she'd take his knowledge and assistance where Zakuul was concerned.

"I should come with you," Nyssa spoke up, "there's no telling the injuries Kira may have sustained all those years ago or what the carbonite process has done to her physically."

"We both should," Malavai pointed out, "not just for Kira but in case the operation doesn't go quite according to plan. Once you break her out, no doubt the alarms will draw all troops and every Knight in the Spire to your location."

"We'll go with two teams of four," Eliza started forming a plan, "Koth, you'll pilot. Theron, Nyssa, and Meg, you'll stay with Koth. Malavai, Ravage, and Lana will head into the Spire with me. Praven and Cytharat, you have the base here, keep an eye on things."

"And what will I do?" Vowrawn gave a playful pout though truthfully, he would rather not be in the thick of it. "Just stand here looking glorious and inspiring, encouraging the hard labors of others? I am quite skilled at such things."

"Go home," Ravage suggested though his intonation made it sound like an order.

"He's right." Eliza gave a gentle smile. "You should return to Dromund Kaas before Acina notices you missing and you risk your position."

They spent the next hour planning everything into careful detail, pouring over their options and trying to account for any mishaps. Nyssa and Malavai debated the physical state Kira might be in and compiled a list of medical supplies they'd need to bring. When all was said and done, Eliza excused herself and returned to the base upstairs to see Vowrawn off on his trip back to Dromund Kaas.

"Remember your promise to me," Vowrawn told her and held her close. He tipped her chin up and kissed her lips in a friendly gesture turned habit and then took Darius aside.

"And you, you listen to her, you hear me?" he began a lecture and Eliza suppressed a gentle chuckle when she overheard him cover everything from fighting to girls.

Once finished, Darius marched back inside seemingly annoyed with his uncle's preaching. Eliza and Vowrawn said goodbye one last time and she watched as his ship take off into the atmosphere before it vanished from sight.

"Is there a reason you put me with Theron's group instead of with Malavai?" Me'ghan caught up with her and asked.

"I need you to keep Koth, Theron, and Nyssa safe in case they're spotted and it didn't seem like a good idea to pair them up with Ravage."

"Fair point."

"Malavai has more combat experience than Nyssa does so he's the logical choice inside the Spire and next to Koth, Lana knows Zakuul better than the rest of us, I need her with me," Eliza explained further while she and Me'ghan walked toward Koth's ship.

"Hey I don't mind, I was just curious." Me'ghan smiled. "Did uh, something happen? Things seemed tense earlier."

"Hrm, kind of," Eliza gave a brief recap of what happened in the cantina the previous night.

"Wow, I can't believe he said that."

Eliza rolled her shoulders in a shrug, masking the pain in her heart. "Yeah, well, it's… his problem. We have bigger things to be concerned about right now."

They reached Koth's ship and boarded, strapping in next to everyone else who already awaited them and took off for Zakuul. In order to combat the tense silence during the flight, Eliza went over their plan several more times suggesting various things that could go wrong and build contingency plans around potential issues.

By the time they landed, all knew their role and what to watch out for. Eliza and her group entered the Spire while Theron began slicing into the systems, copying every schematic he found and guiding them through the endless maze.

"Hold. There's a patrol headed your way from the left side."

"Then they die." Ravage gritted his teeth but Eliza held him back.

"Don't. You'll only alert them to our presence that much sooner." She dragged him away and out of sight, holding her breath until the patrol passed them.

"You're clear. Take a left and follow it all the way down until you spot the utility panel, then turn right."

Cautiously, and far too slowly to Ravage's liking, they proceeded down the corridors and took the elevator up to the next floor where Arcann's vault was located. They quickly discovered there was a ten-minute interval between each patrol and Lana relayed anything deemed significant to Theron and the others in case they'd ever have a reason to return here.

"We should just kill them all now, save ourselves the trouble later on," Ravage muttered, aching for a decent fight.

"Oh you're impossible." Eliza glanced over her shoulder and shook her head at him.

It was only a minor distraction but enough for her to blindly turn the corner and come face to face with two Knights of Zakuul.

"Intruders!" one of them yelled out instantly and reached for his comms.

Malavai tucked into a roll and dove aside to avoid hitting Eliza, then fired. His shots hit the Knight's gauntlet, causing no injury but damaging his communications device instead and Ravage jumped forward with his lightsaber active. In one fluid swing, he slid the blade between the Knight's helmet and chest armor while Eliza leaped for the second Knight.

"What's going on?" Theron asked, hearing the turmoil through his earpiece.

"Just a bit of fun, Agent Shan," Ravage said in a smirk, feeling far more in his element now.

"Theron," Eliza panted while trading blows with the other Knight, "is there a way for you to see what frequency these guys use for their communications and disrupt the signal?"

"No, not through this panel."

"Another disappointment." Ravage couldn't help himself but Theron wisely chose to ignore him.

While Eliza had the Knight distracted, Lana came up from behind and seized the opportunity to end him by cutting straight through his armor and piercing his heart. Eliza gave her a smile.

"Are you okay?" Malavai checked on her, surprised she'd taken so long to kill the Knight and worried she was somehow injured.

"Yeah, fine, I was just taking my time observing their fighting techniques—it's pretty basic, almost disappointing."

"I'm sure Arcann would love to hear that," Lana noted.

Eliza grinned and sheathed her blades. "Do you think I should send him an evaluation report once we're finished here?"

"The dead bodies will speak for themselves."

"Bodies we should hide to avoid making our presence known." Malavai clipped his blaster back onto his belt and took one of the Knight's by the ankles. "Behind that door over there." He indicated toward what appeared to be a storage room.

"Theron, is it clear?" Eliza checked.

"Yeah, room's empty but you need to hurry before the next patrol arrives."

Together, the four of them dragged the bodies inside the storage area and Eliza quickly confiscated the one communicator that hadn't been destroyed, as well as the lightsaber pike one of the Knights had wielded.

"For Kira, doubt they locked her in with her weapons," she answered the questioning look Ravage gave her, "and now we can eavesdrop on their frequency."

"Hm always thinking on your feet, just one of the many things I love about you," he flirted, quite deliberately but Eliza paid him no mind.

They turned back towards the corridor and hurried on to the next section. A large pair of double doors sat between them and the vault and Theron got to work overriding the security access. The doors hissed open and the four of them looked on in awe when they saw the vast collection of people frozen in carbonite.

"Okay… not what I'd expected," Eliza said in surprise, "just how many impressive enemies does this guy have?"

"How do we know which one contains your old padawan?" Ravage inspected the nearest panel he could find to see if any of them were marked. "I'm not seeing a plaque that screams 'Outlander'."

"Is there any further information in the database, Theron?" Lana asked.

"None, sorry."

"Can you try and sense her, Eliza?" Malavai offered up a suggestion.

"Perhaps…" Eliza closed her eyes and focused.

She cleared her mind best as she could and reached out through the Force, recalling Kira, trying to sense her essence. There was nothing but a void and Eliza began walking around, slowly and letting her hand slide across every single carbonite panel that hung on the wall.

Minutes passed and Malavai took it upon himself to guard the entrance with Ravage while Lana followed Eliza, taking her free hand and lending her support to strengthen Eliza's connection to the Force.

Something faint and distant called out to Eliza. It was much like Kira's essence but had a sense of foreboding about it as though something tried to chase her away instead—as though Kira wasn't alone. She stopped by the panel where the feeling was strongest and without touching it she knew.

"It's her, this one."

Ravage turned back into the room. "Are you sure?"

"I am. I can feel her calling me." Eliza inspected the security display attached to the panel. "How do we get it open?"

"Like this." Ravage drove his lightsaber into the display without thought, causing Eliza to fret and panic as she shoved him aside.

"Ravage what the—" she started to yell at him when she heard a faint hissing.

Before her, the panel activated and began its defrosting process, slowly revealing the woman locked inside. A short lock of bright, ginger hair fell over the woman's face and Eliza sighed with relief, recognizing her former padawan instantly.

"Oh, Kira…"

Kira appeared unconscious as the process continued and once done, she slumped forward, nearly falling but Eliza caught her in time. She knelt down, holding Kira on her lap and in her arms.

"Malavai she's, so cold. Did you bring any heating pads?"

"No, there were none at the base," he admitted.

"It's okay, it's alright…" Eliza said in gentle tones, "I've got this."

In a rare opportunity to do good with it, Eliza focused inward and called upon the gift her family possessed. She held Kira close, cautiously radiating warmth into her friend's body. Rather than harness hatred as she would normally, she turned her heart and thoughts to the love she held for Kira, all the memories they shared and slowly, color returned to Kira's face. Her eyes fluttered open and her hand reached up to touch Eliza's cheek.

Then, unexpectedly, a massive purple blast erupted from Kira's body and forced the two friends apart. Kira was thrown back toward the carbonite holding she'd just been freed from, colliding with the panel and slipping back into oblivion while Eliza was thrown all the way to the entrance. The sickening sound of bones breaking rang through the vault when her body slammed into the side of the door and she fell to the raster floor with a loud thud.

"No…" she croaked out, her eyes wide with panic and then she lost consciousness, involuntarily surrendering to an endless darkness.