:: Chapter Thirty Three ::

'Mm, Corso Riggs and Andronikos Revel…' Eliza recognized the two strangers immediately when she took to gazing out the viewport overlooking the hangar bay.

The area below crowded with those helping unload Jenna's vessel from the supplies she'd managed to secure. Whatever contact she had in Alderaan must have owed her big because, at a first glance, the large volume of cargo appeared to be enough to feed everyone on the base for the next month, with decent meals, and Eliza even spotted several crates with wine and medical supplies.

"It's not a bad haul," commented Theron.

"No, it's not but I wonder how she got those two out… Weren't they locked away on Coruscant? I remember the files you gave me."

Both men looked only half a shade of the men she'd seen on the holographs. Worn down, fatigued, clearly having lost quite a few pounds. The shorter of the two, Corso, limped down the boarding ramp but the discomfort of the pain Eliza imagined he must be in did nothing to wipe the pure joyful smile off his face. Vastly different from Andronikos who stood to the side, his eyes scanning the crowd taking inventory of the sort of people who surrounded him now.

"Hrm." Theron's brows furrowed and his arms snuck around her middle. "I'm sure Jenna can explain."

Eliza sunk her head back against his shoulder, half nuzzling his neck while a deep sigh left her. Suddenly the presence of so many people felt suffocating and while she didn't know how to explain it or where it came from, a morosity had begun to well up inside of her.

"Can you deal with this for now? Have them checked out in medical, write up their files, get them clearance and a bunk?"

"Of course." Theron lightly planted a kiss against her temple. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… No, actually," she corrected quickly, unwilling to lie to him even if she had no explanation, "but I'm not sure what's wrong either. I'm just going to my room, find some peace and quiet, figure it out, maybe meditate."

Gently, he spun her around and tipped her chin up, worried. "Are you sure?"

"Mm. Just… handle them for me and once everything is unloaded, have Jenna report to my chambers."

He let her go, reluctantly, and watched while her feet dragged her off. "Alright…"

It wasn't long until she passed out, almost the second she made it to her room and into bed. Something had wiped her out and she quickly fell into a restless, haunting sleep that brought to light anxieties she'd been unaware of in her waking hours while a single tear trickled down her cheek.

A hungering void twisted its tentacles and coiled in delight while it drained the life from every living being on the planet. Operating from the depths of the planet's core it gave a marvelous display of its superiority, its reign of death and decay.

Dark clouds loomed above the eroded surface and shrouded the crumbled Temple. The grounds a cemetery littered with the bones of those sacrificed to serve one man's thirst for power but amidst the unburied dead, one life remained. A Sith who'd withstood the tests of time, survived the horrors of the man he'd once served and whose life force had been extended by the fallen who lay at his feet as he stood chained and bound to the one pillar left standing.

"Scourge…" A gasp left Eliza's lips, her voice barely even a whisper.

The shackled Pureblood raised his head, slow and strenuously until his now whitened and dim eyes met hers. His dry lips curled, barely, and cracked as they widened into a grin. Blood should have sprung from the clefts marking his mouth now but instead, they merely uncovered greyed, near dead skin underneath.

"Jedi," he croaked with great difficulty and Eliza felt her heart ache. "Have you come for one last lullaby?"

"I'm here to save you, I found you at last."

She ran toward him, tiptoeing carefully between the skeletons until she was able to touch him at last. Her hand upon his cold and rough skin, touching his cheek that felt like parchment under her fingertips.

"You're too late, nulis."

"No. No, I'm not. I'm here now and once I get you out of these chains we can return to my ship."

"I'm already dead."

With all her might, Eliza pulled on the rusted chains to yank them from their hinges, all the while vehemently shaking her head.

"You're not. I'll take you to the medical bay aboard the Vanora and we'll dunk you in kolto for the duration of the flight home if we must. You'll be right as rain again, my love."

Misery and sorrow dwelled in his eyes and her words of hope and faith were like a knife to his heart, the heart that barely beated any longer.

"Kolto won't fix this, nothing can. It's too late for me."

"Then fight! I'm sorry it took me so long to find you, to come get you. Scourge, we have a daughter, she needs you. I need you."

Both chains snapped and his cadaverous body slumped forward into her arms. So much lighter than she remembered, so chilled to the core and devoid of complexion. Brittle and frail and when he attempted to hold her, she heard the splintering of bones.

Eliza sunk to the ground, cradling him to her and leaned in to touch his lips with her own. Tender and light, afraid of his fragility now yet yearning to taste him once again but it was like kissing sand. Dry, cold, tasteless and gritty and a nauseating odor escaped from the back of his throat when he drew another breath.

"What did you name her?"

"Cyara, just as we'd agreed and she is… stars, amazing. You'd be so proud."

"I already am because she is ours. The best of me, the best of us both, one of the few things I did right in my life."

"Just wait until you meet her." Eliza's hope stubbornly persisted even while his voice began to fade.

His eyes drift shut repeatedly, then sprung open again and he made another attempt to smile but the muscles in his face would no longer allow it. Color began to drain from his skin turning a soft salmon first and then sickly grey while the density thinned.

"Come on, Scourge. You have to hold on, please, I've finally found you, I'm here," she tried again but as she took his hand, it dissolved.

Silver sand ran through her fingers and panic took over. Her heart raced while she fought to hold on to him, hold him to her, begging and offering anything in return for his life but while one single tear left his eyes, his entire body disintegrated until nothing but a pile of ivory dust covered her lap.

"I love you…" the wind whispered to her and a draft pulled over the surface, ripping her love from her arms one last time.

"Scourge… Scourge, no, no!" Eliza writhed in bed and screamed until the shrill echoes of her own voice woke her back up.

She sat up with a jolt and became aware of the two hands clasping her shoulders. Found herself staring into a troubled pair of peridot green eyes.

"Eliza? What happened?" asked Jenna while she sat at her bedside. "Theron told me to meet you here but when I got to the door, I heard violent screams."

"He's gone, I've lost him again. I was too late!"

"Lost who? Scourge?"

Eliza nodded and brushed the tears from her face with the palm of her hand. Roughly and loathing them while her panic remained.

"It's too late, we'll be too late. I… he was there, chained up and I freed him but I was too late, he died in my arms. He'll die in my arms!"

"Oh, hun…" Jenna let out a deep sigh and circumstance encouraged her arms around Eliza to soothe her. "It was only a nightmare. You're worried and scared but we'll find him, soon."

"Soon won't be soon enough… I felt it, he's in a dire state."

As much as she appreciated Jenna's sudden kindness, she rushed from bed with her hand covering her mouth and quickly disappeared into the refresher. Minutes went by while she allowed herself to get sick, chuck it out of her system and let her tears run until she was ready to wash them away and return to her room.

It also allowed Jenna a chance to consider the other woman's position. To realize the extent of everything she had to deal with and swallow back the resentment she'd held for Eliza's part in Theron and Nyssa's break up.

"I'm sorry about that…" said Eliza when she sat back down.

"No, I get it. You must be worried and you have a lot going on. Do you really believe you'll be too late?"

"I don't know… I'm scared," Eliza admitted now she finally understood the origin of her dejected state.

"From what I've read and heard about Nathema, it's not a good place. Hell comes close I'd say. I have to find him, I have to get him out of there. Just as I should have made more urgent effort to free those guys you brought back but…"

"You can't do everything all at once," Jenna reasoned.

"No, I can't. There's so much to deal with, you know? Valkorion, Arcann, finding Scourge, this war, keeping the base up and running, keeping everyone safe."

"Is that why you called me in here? Because I rescued them and brought them here without checking or getting clearance?"

"Yeah…" Eliza gave half a smile. "I'm glad you got them out but I do wish you'd have checked in first."

"I know I should have, I'm sorry I didn't but it all happened so fast. An opportunity presented itself and I, I took it."

"How did you manage it, anyway?"

"The Teraans, my old acquaintances on Alderaan, found themselves a new patron to help reestablish their House. A Senator from Coruscant and I so happened to be his type. I won't repulse you with the details but, well, we worked out a deal and I got our guys back."

Eliza felt a second wave of nausea rise up her throat but said nothing further about it, she wasn't going to judge. "So where are the other two? There were four, right?"

"They left for Balmorra. Zenith, the Twi'lek guy, claimed he had a hidden stash of artillery and other military gear hidden away, stuff we could use, and the Jedi Sithy chick, whatever she is now, went with him."

"They'll be in touch?"

"Yeah, gave them my details."

"And the pirate… did he have anything to say about coming out here or, me?"

Jenna rolled her shoulders in a shrug. "Not that I recall, should he have?"

"I was somewhat involved in Nox's demise… not sure how much he knows but he used to work for her."

"Doubt it's gonna be a problem, he seemed pretty relaxed and has been aiding our cause since this war started."

"Good… good. Well, I should probably have a chat with him regardless. Now, the other one, Corso? He was on your crew once, right?"

"When I first started out."

Eliza nodded and chewed on the bottom of her lip, considering. "Is there anything to be mindful of? A specific reason why he left your crew or why you parted ways? Should we be keeping an eye on him?"

"Corso? Oh hell no." Jenna chuckled. "No, he's a darling, absolutely wonderful but… not my type, you see? Which I told him early on but it always felt like he clung to the hope I'd change my mind so…"

"Ah, I get it."

"Felt best to let him go so he could pursue his own dreams, a woman who deserves him. Being around me he'd never see the potential of anyone far better suited, you know?"

"Makes sense."

"After the whole Voidwolf business I set him up with his own ship and he ran legit with a Republic contract for a while, met Zenith along the way but then the war broke out and they started smuggling goods to planets under Arcann's thumb, ones abandoned by the Republic. No surprise there."

"Were they treated poorly on Coruscant? They looked skinny, pale, worn down." Eliza worried a little—her opinion of the Republic was already at a new low but she'd still expected prisoners to be treated well, to look better than the two men had.

"Worse than most but the Republic knew of their association with me and you. Interrogated them almost daily, tried to bribe them for information on you and this alliance especially once Arcann set his sights on you."

"Disgusting. Good thing you got them out when you did."

Jenna nodded. "It would appear Madon is carrying on Saresh's ways, even now she's out of the picture. I'd say I'm disappointed but I've never held the Senate or Chancellors in high esteem."

She reached over and poured a glass of water from the carafe before handing it to Eliza. "So, am I in trouble?"

"Nah. Just, next time…"

"I know, reach out first before jumping into bed with a fifty-five-year-old, chubby and bald Senator with an ear fetish which—"

"Woa, no, too much information!" Eliza quickly stopped her and smiled. "But thank you, I really am relieved you brought them here."

She got up a second time and found her boots by her nightstand. "I guess I should go and welcome them, have a little chat and check in on Lana's progress."

"Yeah, good idea…" Jenna prepared to take off as well but stopped before she reached the door.

"Hey, Eliza?"

"Mm?"

"I'm… a little sorry I was a bitch because, well, you know. Anyway. If you need a friend or whatever, I know Meg's not around right now but… I do okay with listening, especially if you bring a bottle of wine."

"Right… no, I get it, you were protective of your friend. I'll know where to find you if I need anything, thanks."

With a grin and a playful wink, Jenna said goodbye and hurried off while Eliza left for the medical bay. Before she got there, however, her comms chimed and Lana's voice rang in her ears.

"Eliza? I think I've found Nathema."