:: Chapter Thirty One ::
The moment they approached Athiss it became clear only a superiorly skilled pilot would be able to reach the planet's surface. Chunks of debris, from vessels that had attempted to protect Athiss against the Eternal Fleet's assault, floated aimlessly through orbit around the planet. Tempted by gravity yet remaining perpetually frozen in space.
A vast shroud of smoke, toxic fumes, and microscopic particles blanketed the atmosphere making visual navigation nigh impossible as even a week later, the Fleet's destruction marked Athiss' current, macabre state. Malavai Quinn was forced to rely on his instrumentation.
"It's worse than I'd thought," sighed Lord Cytharat in a whisper, his stomach knotting with dread.
"Don't lose faith, my Lord," Malavai uttered and unintentionally fell into professional habit while most of his concentration went to guiding them through safely.
A lost engine and a tied, netted, stack of cargo crates drifted straight in their direction and Malavai veered to the side just in time to avoid collision. He slowed the engines down significantly, drifting through the minefield of rubble and wreckage to penetrate the near black veil covering Athiss.
The nose of their ship pierced the murky shroud and the planet came into a hazy view. Burning in a sunset-orange, not just due to the natural color of the surface but through the fires that still razed. Trapping all life in a never-ending sundown, exotically beautiful and yet deadly if things stayed this way for much longer.
"Best bring our respirator masks once we deplane, and spare oxygen supplies to be safe," Me'ghan remarked and excused herself to pack all the necessary equipment.
Down below, just beyond a still-smoldering crater, Malavai found a vast and clear area to land the Fury closest to the coordinates that Lord Cytharat had provided.
The Pureblood, desperate for his family and stuck to the viewport like a fly caught on a windshield, spoke with a modicum of hope, "Their farm still stands."
In the far distance, the silhouette of high, terracotta tinted walls formed a fortification around the property belonging to the Cytharats with tall Ash trees rising even further above. From their position, it appeared entirely undamaged though not far beyond the property, a blazing fire drew closer.
"We should hurry," Praven said and handed both Malavai and Lord Cytharat a rucksack with their gear.
Armed with anything they might need—water flasks, ration bars, medical supplies, glow rods and more—they disembarked and set foot on the dry desert sands of Athiss. A dust devil whirled over the surface and Me'ghan lowered her shades to align with her respirator mask.
Despite being able to spot the farm in the distance, it was still quite a hike until they finally reached the front gates and Lord Cytharat strained to push the durasteel port open, feeling something on the other side resist. Pots and pans clattered across the pathway while solid, wooden table feet etched four lines in the sand when the gateway finally opened.
"They must have barricaded fearing Skytroopers and Knights would follow the assault," Malavai reasoned while they followed Lord Cytharat onto the square courtyard.
Me'ghan swallowed the gasp that threatened to escape her upon seeing the residence itself. While the walls guarding the property had remained perfectly intact, the not-so-humble homestead had crumbled to its bare foundations.
The largest part of the dome rooftop had broken down, crashed into the various rooms beneath and blown several sections of wall wide open. Sand, grit, and dust coated every piece of furniture, darkened the broken windows and left an ominous fog to linger in each section of the home.
"It's… destroyed…" Lord Cytharat gasped out and ran to the nearest room, the family's study overlooking the courtyard.
He leaped the crumbled wall, nearly tearing his jacket open on a piece of broken wood from the window frame, and began a frantic search for life. The others followed, running in after him and splitting up to cover as many rooms as possible, as quickly as they could.
Life was nowhere to be found. A toppled cooking pan on the kitchen floor and the previously edible substance that had leaked out indicated just how abruptly the Eternal Fleet's attack had begun and how little time the family must have had to find shelter.
"They're not here," Praven concluded when everyone reunited.
"No, they're not, but I haven't found any bodies or traces of blood either. That's good news, right?" said Lord Cytharat though a mild panic rang clear in his voice.
Malavai knelt down, his index finger tracing the outlines of a footstep imprinted in dust but by now, too many had accumulated, including their own, to properly track where the owners of the house could have gone.
"Is there anywhere they might have found shelter? A refugee center, any neighbors?" asked Me'ghan.
"Not that I…" Lord Cytharat stopped, sliding his shades up and removing his glove to rub a burning sensation from his eyes while he considered each and every possibility. "The cellar!"
He ran from their presence a second time and disappeared into the supply room adjacent to the kitchen.
The hatch he was looking for was blocked by several wine cabinets and a toppled shelf. Broken bottles and glass littered the floor and with Praven's help, he began to clear the way until the hatch door revealed itself. They had it opened in no time and Me'ghan, Malavai, and Praven followed Lord Cytharat's descend down a single, and steep, wooden ladder.
The lights down in the cellar refused to illuminate the pitch dark area and both Malavai and Praven activated their glow rods, shining one in each direction.
"Mother? Father? Liyana?" Lord Cytharat called out, following the light of Praven's glow rod.
A distressed cough echoed from the far back of the cellar and he rushed over. "Liyana?!"
"T-Tally… is that you?" A young girl, nearly ten years his junior, blinked her eyes against the sudden bright light, fending it off with her hand while she tried to see.
She rose up, with difficulty, her knees quaking and Lord Cytharat caught her in his arms. "Thank the Force… Liyana, I thought I'd lost you. Where are mother and father?"
"R-right here." She sniffled and coughed a second time.
Together, they crouched back down and now he saw both his parents in a near comatose state. Huddled up under a blanket and lost to the world. Their lips cracked and dry, their bodies decrepit and their pulse severely weakened.
Malavai sunk down to the floor and immediately began unpacking the supplies they'd brought. He handed a ration bar and a water thermos to Lord Cytharat's sister then tended to both their parents.
"Small sips my Lord," he warned Liyana and searched the mother's arm for a vein.
"Liyana, what happened, why are you still down here?" asked Lord Cytharat while he cradled her in his lap.
"They attacked, that fleet, out of nowhere… we barricaded the front gate and came down here for shelter but the assault shook the planet to its core and everything came crashing down," she explained while taking tiny sips of her water.
"When hours later we wanted to see if it was safe again, father couldn't get the hatch to open. We've been stuck all week."
Concerned, Me'ghan knelt down as well and took Liyana's wrist to check her pulse, then ran a scanner down the frail girl's body.
"How did you survive?" she asked, her tone sweet and gentle as though she was speaking to her own daughter, even while Liyana appeared in her late teens.
"We keep spare rations down here. Not much, mother and father gave me the last of it yesterday…" Liyana cast a fearful look at her parents and Malavai.
"Will they be okay?"
"Yes, I believe so but for their sake, we should return to the ship," he kept his voice steady but gave Lord Cytharat a look of urgency.
"Then let's get out of here." Lord Cytharat lifted his sister in his arms to carry her away.
"Tally?" she mewled and rested her head on his shoulder, "are these the friends you always write about?"
"They are and when we get back to the ship, I'll introduce you properly."
Liyana lowered her voice to a whisper and despite her troubled state, she cracked a tiny smile, "And the one carrying father, is that him?"
Lord Cytharat glanced back over his shoulder, sighing with relief seeing Praven right behind him with his father. "Yes, that's my nulis."
"He's handsome." She kissed her brother's cheek and approved.
Less than an hour later, they were back aboard the Fury and on their way to the Zorfe Trete hyperlane. Malavai, with Me'ghan's aid, tended to Lord Cytharat's parents while the latter sat with his sister in the common area, seeing to it that she ate and replenished on her fluids.
"Everything happened so fast. We'd just finished breakfast and father was about to visit Lord Mandor's estate—he tutors their little boy—when the Eternal Fleet appeared out of nowhere, filling the sky like diamonds at first but then they came closer and launched their assault," she explained in between small nibbles.
"The sirens wailed but were shot down in seconds, even before the emergency protocol broadcast started. Father ushered us to the cellars then went back up to barricade the front gate. He'd just gotten back to us when we heard a massive explosion, like an eruption and we felt the ground shake."
Liyana huddled up against her brother, hugging his arm. "It was terrifying Tally, I'd never seen father so frightened before, you know? We didn't think anyone would find us or that we'd ever see you again."
"I'm here now, yunoks sessuo, and we'll bring you somewhere safe," Lord Cytharat's fingers gingerly brushed her hair while he made his promise.
"No! You can't leave us again, I want to come with you and your friends. I could help, I've gotten really good at psychometry and illusions."
"I don't want to leave you either but the most important thing now is your safety, which I can't guarantee at the base."
"But I want to meet Eliza and everyone else and I want to fight the Eternal Empire!"
"Akir, it's not safe. Now, finish your meal, please?"
His teenage sister pouted, though she relented for the time being and continued eating quietly, each bite reminding her of just how hungry she was. By the time she'd finished, Malavai re-appeared and informed them both of very welcome and positive news.
"Both your parents are expected to make a full recovery. They're resting, I have them on artificial hydration and nutrition but you can go and see them if you'd like to—they're awake."
"Thank you, Malavai," said Lord Cytharat as he rose from the half circular booth.
"Yes, thank you, uhm…" Liyana eyed the decorations on his uniform and inclined her head. "Major Quinn."
He favored her with a bow, unwilling to take liberties with a Sith he barely knew, even if he was a friend of her brother's. "My Lord."
"Always the professional," teased Me'ghan after stepping aside to let Lord Cytharat and Liyana into the medbay and giving them privacy.
"Yes. I believe you once called it one of my more, adorable, qualities?" Malavai smiled her way.
"Mmhm. At least, it became adorable when I finally found myself in your arms but before then?" She grinned and exhaled an exaggerated sigh. "Frustrating trying to pierce that shell of yours, Major."
"And yet, worth it?" His arms lured her in close.
Me'ghan rose to the tips of her toes and welcomed his kiss. "Oh, every single microscopic second."
Whereas some Sith families could be cold by nature, the Cytharats were the vast opposite and both parents embraced their children with a surplus of warmth and affection when they reunited in the medbay.
"It is such a relief to see you both," Lilija thanked the Force and kissed her son and daughter on the forehead.
Valdis, their father, nodded and beckoned his son over. "Your Commander, she could spare you?" he asked, relieved and yet concerned Lord Cytharat had lost his place in the Alliance.
"She insisted," he promised and took his father's hand.
"You don't have to worry, jaarvek. She's also offered the choice of bringing all three of you with us to the base or for us to take you to her safehouse on Rishi. Major Quinn's parents and the two children are there as well."
"A tough decision," mused Lilija, "is anywhere in the galaxy safe at this point?"
Liyana climbed onto the medical bed and curled up at her mother's side. "No, motina, but at least at their base we'd be surrounded by people who can fight back, we wouldn't be helpless, right, Tally?"
"True but the Commander has a target on her back, especially now. Our base may soon be the least safest place in the galaxy."
"It would give me a chance to join your fight," argued Liyana, stubbornly clinging to her desire to join her brother on Odessen. "I felt so useless on Athiss…"
Both parents exchanged a brief glance and Valdis smiled at his daughter. "It is clear what your wishes are, akir."
"Perhaps we can compromise?" suggested Lilija with an eye on her husband. "We'll first return with Tallis to his base, and meet the Commander—she is family after all—then, without overstaying our welcome, we travel to Rishi ourselves?"
"Yes!" Liyana cheered, "Oh please, vicha, can we?"
"Tallis?" Valdis turned to his son before promising his daughter anything. "Could that be arranged?"
Lord Cytharat stroked his chin and thought. "I think it could be. I will contact the Commander and see."
"Good." His mother reached out her hand and beckoned him over. "Now, where is this handsome man of yours? Your father and I have been curious to meet him at last."
