"Poor, sweet, stupid Maxir. Your too-clever-for-its-own-good mind simply bit off so much more than you could chew."

Lorash shuddered a little as she heard that voice again, the rasping Seia from her dream of Despayre, here and now. Her hopes raced towards the skies, but the reality of the words' venomous intimation meant Seia had some part to play here that was not innocent.

They rounded the last corner, coming out into a grand open hall. Ten stormtroopers writhed and paced, a dark purple glow coming from their eyes. Each one had removed their helmet, revealing the slack faces of the ensorcelled underneath. Close to the sacrificial altar was a gibbering Imperial security services officer, hunched and leaking so much Dark Side energy that Lorash had trouble even looking at him with her sense. She could feel another presence overlaid over his body, some awoken specter adjusting to possession of him. He clenched a lightsaber in his hands, double-sided like Lorash's own.

Perched on the corner of the altar, watching over this wretched misery, was Seia. She looked much better than she had in Lorash's dream: well fed and strong, hair glossy and healthy, eyes burning with an infernal orange glow. There were hints, however, that the vision was more than just something from Lorash's sleeping mind. Seia had fresh scars on her wrists from manacles and others on her arms from the thorns of Despayre. She wore dark pants tucked into tall boots and a charcoal-colored vest that left her arms and shoulders exposed. New tattoos in the Sith language ran down both her arms in swirling patterns of script. She seemed utterly amused by the situation, watching the agent most of all. "In my defense, Lord Kun, I did tell him not to pick the lightsaber up. But you know how grabby cockroaches are."

"This vessel is weak, powerless!" the Imperial agent snarled. The spirit within him was clearly dissatisfied. " Surrender yourself to me and I will make you powerful beyond your wildest dreams."

Seia laughed. "If you must scrape and beg for a worthy vessel, one wonders how true that is…and my imagination has been so very active lately. Quite the bar to surmount." She grinned with a certain dark humor, eyes burning. "Officer Maxir will just have to suffice."

Lorash froze in place as both Seia and the Force ghost possessing Officer Maxir turned slightly to notice their little group. Her heart sank when Seia's expression showed no recognition, only hardness. Then again, the hood and mask covered her face. Still…she'd hoped that Seia would recognize her essence anywhere. You've grown a great deal in power, she reminded herself. It would not be easy to mark the change.

"A Jedi knight ," the spirit growled. " You killed my Sithspawn."

Seia stood, lightsaber flying into her hand from her belt. It flared to life with the roar of bleeding kyber, its crimson glow giving her features a hellish cast. "Master Az'rah, you should have thought long and hard before coming here, especially with the insult of turning my compatriots against me."

"This is a, uh, rescue, Seia," Eso blurted out. "Even Corr's not your enemy."

"There I'm afraid we have to agree to disagree," Seia said coolly. "He may not consider me an enemy, but I very much rule him one of mine. Get out of the way, Eso."

Lorash ignited her lightsaber and had to slide herself using the Force to protect Corr as Seia leaped, bringing her blade down in a brutal smash directly at the arms dealer. She hit with so much power that Lorash was barely able to stop it with the full momentum of her swing.

Corr scrambled back, shouldering his rifle as the troopers seemed to suddenly cue to them. He fired a quick burst, hitting two of the ten and dropping them immediately. "We're outnumbered!"

Lorash wasn't paying attention to them at all. There was only Seia, who needed her full concentration. The sith's eyes blazed with anger at the interception, and again Lorash found herself with a most implacable sparring partner. Every motion from the sith was a feint or a battering attack, each blow enough to put the Sithspawn to shame. She was even stronger than she had been, or maybe now she just wasn't holding back. Lorash parried everything she could with her lightsaber, but frequently had to block using force pushes as well. She learned quickly that she couldn't make Seia go backwards, but she could halt the sith's blade or limb in midair for long enough to get herself out of the way: a split second or two. Lorash didn't attack back, focusing entirely on her best defensive techniques. Unfortunately, the frenetic pace combined with her cracked ribs meant she didn't have the breath to speak.

"Seia, stop!" Eso shouted, panic rising in his voice as she forced Lorash steadily backwards in her effort to get to Corr.

"Not bad for a temple guard," Seia hissed, ignoring him as she tangled Lorash's body with the power of her bind, apparently frustrated by the defense the jedi was putting up. "But you're in my way ."

"Seia!" Lorash gasped out just before the crushing power locked her in place, threatening to squeeze her until her ribs shattered inside beskar armor.

Seia froze at the sound of her voice, the bind suddenly lessening to nothingness even as blaster fire sprayed all around. She reached out, pushing Lorash's hood back with fingertips before hitting the release on the side of her mask. " Asha?" The rage fueling the sith's demonic assault was gone, a faint quiver in her tone as she spoke.

Lorash reached up now that she could move, removing the mask so Seia could see her face. "We came here looking for you, Seia," she said earnestly.

"You would let a jedi sway you out of your rage? No scion of the Sith should be so weak!" The possessed Imperial agent said, igniting his double-bladed lightsaber. " You will all die here!"

Seia's fingertips ghosted across Lorash's cheekbone. "Help me put Exar Kun back into his tomb, asha ," she said. "Between the two of us, we can stop him. He is not yet fully awake."

Lorash nodded just as a bowcaster quarrel launched downrange at the possessed agent, who spun his lightsaber in a Niman movement, redirecting it straight for Eso. The young pilot barely had time to recoil behind cover, yelping as it singed his upper arm badly.

The jedi snapped her mask back on to protect her face and then followed Seia into battle. They hadn't ever fought side by side like this before, but it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Seia hounded the possessed man with her customary aggression, channeled into creating openings for Lorash as well as herself. The sith warrior moved around his right side, leaving the left for Lorash. Once he was flanked, he had to make perfect use of the double-blade to avoid injury. Unfortunately, his mastery of Niman surpassed Lorash's own.

The possessed Imperial agent gnashed his teeth, unable to focus entirely on either of them without exposing himself to the other.

An opening flashed in front of Lorash, but she saw it for what it was: misdirection. Seia, however, bit the bait as Corr and Yyrfh helped Eso with the troopers. She lunged, only to find her target had suddenly moved. The Imperial security officer hit her across the side of the head with enough force to momentarily stun her.

Dark Side energies flooded out of his body as it dropped, coursing into Seia's. I will have you now, scion of the Sith!

"No!" Lorash extinguished her lightsaber and surged forward, wrapping her arms around Seia. "I didn't find her just to lose her! Your mind is still your own, Seia!"

She could feel the struggle raging in Seia's body like the lightning storms outside, conflict bashing up against conflict. As a Dark Side force user, already chock full of hate and spite, Seia was much more fertile ground for Exar Kun's hold to take root in than Lorash would have been.

Seia dropped her lightsaber and held on to Lorash like a lifeline, burying her face in the crook of the jedi's armored neck as she fought to keep control of her mind.

"Let me in," Lorash begged. "Let me help, Seia."

Seia's breathing came in sobs now, more from the effort and pain than anything else. "He'll destroy you."

"Trust me. Trust that I can help without losing myself. I won't lose you," Lorash whispered.

The burning connection between them returned as if it had never been absent and Lorash leaned into it with her whole being. Her calm and love poured into Seia like cleansing rains on a wildfire, strength flooding into Seia's battered and cracking will. Her lover had endured so much, survived so much, but now she didn't have to do it alone.

In Seia's mind, they stood on that horrible poisoned jungle world, ravaged by storms and scorching temperatures. Despayre was every bit as awful as Lorash imagined, a darkness Exar Kun reveled in. She could hear his laughter rolling like thunder as Seia's losses replayed before her: first Yaikâ's death, then being sealed away, then Lorash herself being ripped away.

"I'm here, Seia," Lorash promised as she put her arms around Seia in their dream state. "I'm not leaving."

She lies. She will leave you, Exar Kun whispered. Everyone leaves you.

Seia clung tightly to Lorash. It was hard to tell if she believed Exar Kun more than the jedi, but there was a flicker of anxiety in her expression.

"We are one with the Force," Lorash said steadily. "We will always find each other again, Seia, because nothing is impossible with the Force. You taught me that. Even if something separates us for a time, we'll find each other. Trust me."

"I do not have it in me to hope," Seia admitted, voice cracking. "Losing you again almost broke me, asha."

Lorash kissed her temple before answering. "You endured Despayre. You survived the Empire's tortures. You can say that was all spite, but there was hope there too. If you thought you'd really lost everything forever, would you have kept going?"

"No," Seia said, drawing in a shuddering breath. "But I…I came so close to giving up. Even now, having you again, I find myself afraid of asking how long it will last."

"The rest of our days and beyond. I will find you into eternity, whether in this life or whatever the Force decrees for us next," Lorash promised. "I love you, Seia."

"I am not a fool, Lorash. I know what the jedi teach about love and attachment."

The jedi smiled faintly, gloved hands running over Seia's back. "You mean more to me than their fear. I can balance the Light with love, or find my own path away from the Order. As long as it's with you, I don't care where I go."

The more she spoke, the more she could feel Exar Kun's influence on Seia melting away. He needed fear and pain and uncertainty to take root. As long as she was an unconditional beacon of warmth and safety for Seia, his power waned.

For his part, Exar Kun raged against it, whipping the winds of Despayre into howling gales and the downpour into blistering rain. Thorny vines wound around their legs, digging in viciously and trying to wrench them apart. Lorash balanced herself in the chaos of the mindscape, opening herself to the Force. She let the power flow through her, filtering out the chaos and letting it be restorative for Seia. Her lover burned like a brand here, smoldering with Dark Side energies and seething pains, but slowly grew calmer and calmer.

Seia turned in her arms to face Exar Kun, the shadowy figure watching and seething. "Get out of my mind," she said harshly. "You are not welcome here and never will be."

"You will regret that choice when you need to save her," he said, mockery ringing out loud and clear in his voice. " You're too weak alone."

"She's not alone," Lorash said firmly, lifting her chin. "You envy what you cannot have, Exar Kun, what you cannot be. She is every inch your better."

He snarled, but seemed to understand that the two of them together wouldn't budge. "This isn't over!"

"Yes, it is." Seia made a dismissive gesture, her will slamming into him renewed and stronger than it probably had been since their separation. There was a cracking sound and then the mindscape shattered.

Lorash came to her senses laying on the ground, her body pressed into Seia with arms protectively around the sith warrior. The chamber was quiet and still, the sense of conflict everywhere rapidly fading. The troopers and Imperial agent lay dead.

"Seia," the jedi said gently, trying not to think about her cracked ribs or damaged shoulder. Seia wasn't wearing armor, but her weight on Lorash's torso was still enough to stress the jedi's injuries.

Seia stirred at the sound of her name, turning in Lorash's arms until she could lift her weight off the jedi, supporting herself on her forearms. "Are you really here, asha?" she rasped quietly. "Or is this another dream?"

Lorash hit the release for her mask and pulled it off, discarding it to the side for a moment. Then she framed Seia's face in her hands and pulled the sith warrior down into a kiss. It was breathless intensity and comfort at the same time, a fire rekindled into a welcome home. She could forget about everything, including her own injuries, as long as she had this. Seia was hesitant for a moment, as if uncertain if this was real, but then she melted into the kiss.

Lorash only stopped when her lungs burned from air, tasting her own tears of relief and overwhelming feelings. Seia didn't seem much better, burning eyes glossy as she looked down at Lorash. "I missed you, asha, " the sith admitted softly. "This still feels like a mirage."

"I missed you too," Lorash said thickly. "I never want to lose you like that again."

"Hey, uh, lovebirds, can we leave the creepy temple now?" Eso asked, looking around nervously. Even with the enemy dead and Exar Kun fading back into dormancy, the place was hardly cozy. Corr was bandaging his wound, keeping a wary eye on Seia as he did so.

Seia reluctantly pushed herself up and then helped Lorash off the floor, her eyes narrowing hatefully as she refocused on Corr.

Lorash put a hand on her arm. "He agreed to help me find you, Seia. We wouldn't be having this reunion without him. I know it's hard, but see him as that as well as one of the people who separated us."

Seia flicked her lightsaber hilt up to her hand from the floor, but hooked it back to her belt instead of igniting it. Then she grabbed the Imperial agent's comm and picked it up, tucking it away as well. "As you wish, asha . Eso is right anyway: it would be better not to linger here."

The jedi picked up her mask and saber, returning the hilt to her own belt and snapping her mask to a hanging clip beside it instead of putting it on her face. "Let's get out of here. We can talk more back on the ship."

"Is that, uh, what they're calling that? Talking?" Eso teased. "I guess, uh, lips are involved."

Lorash glared at him, but he didn't seem at all apologetic. Truthfully, she didn't mind the teasing. It was just giving him a reaction that would make him laugh. Seia seemed immune to the teasing, like she hadn't even heard it. It was hard to know if that was a defense mechanism or if she was still rattled from Exar Kun's attempt to take her mind.

"We'll have to deal with that assassin droid by the troop transport, provided it hasn't sabotaged my ship by now," Corr muttered.

Seia pulled in a sharp breath. "Jaa has been through enough," she said sharply. "He's coming with us."

"That sounds like a name, Seia. What's his designation?" Eso asked curiously.

"It is a name. His prototype was designated HK-71, though the idea is significantly older than that designation: an assassin droid mocked up to resemble a protocol droid, but with a person as the basis for its cognitive mapping." Seia scowled. "Maxir took great pleasure in elucidating what the Imperium's best minds did to him."

"He was a person ?" Eso looked pale and absolutely appalled.

"The only consistent ally I was able to forge on Despayre. They learned they could not torture me, but the same was not true for those who made the mistake of putting their hopes in me. We are not leaving him to rot in this abysmal jungle."

Corr shuddered slightly. "I had heard stories of such things, but I didn't imagine they were true. It would be kinder to put him out of his misery."

Lorash saw a flash of something protective on Seia's face. "Without those worms inflicting pain on him every time I act out, his misery is significantly lessened. If he wishes for an ending, I will give him a swift one, but it will be his choice and not yours that determines it."

The jedi took off her brown outer robe, more concerned about Seia being warm enough in the pouring rain than anything else as they neared the main doors. "This will keep the rain off," she said, holding it out to Seia. "The jungle will be cold with nightfall and a storm."

The sith accepted the robe hesitantly, derailed slightly from her anger towards Corr. "And what of you?"

"I'm still plenty covered and armored," Lorash said, gesturing down at the suit of beskar she was wearing. It kept to the gold and white theme of a temple guard's armor and would serve just fine against the elements. "My head will get soaked, but I can change back on Corr's ship. We'll get your friend and be on our way before I even get cold."

Seia nodded and pulled on the robe, seeing the sense for what it was. She pulled up the hood, letting it fall low across her face. The thunder still rolled outside, though the storm seemed markedly less intense than it had been. It was still raining, but in sheets instead of torrential downpour. She advanced through the doors into the rain, pulling out the agent's comm to make a call.

"Agent Maxir?" a synthetic sounding male voice asked over the comm.

"Jaa, this is Seia. We are leaving planet on the ship that touched down nearby. Maxir and the others are dead."

There was a choked sound over the radio, a sort of unexpected joy that not even the most human protocol droid Lorash had ever met could manage. "Really?"

"Really," Seia promised quietly into the comm. "I will have a friend of mine take a look at this comm when I finish to see if we can disable that neural pain modulator used on you."

Again, the droid's voice seemed to contain a tremor of optimism out of keeping with its synthetic nature. "I knew you wouldn't leave me. I'll meet you at the other ship."

It was barely visible, but for a moment the ghost of a smile touched Seia's lips. "Good. Then we can get the hell out of here. There are some new friends for you to meet too." She ended the call and then held the comm out to Yyrfh. "They were using this to torture him. Make sure it can no longer send whatever signals it was. If it destroys the comm and its contents, I am absolutely fine with that."

"Smashing delicate things is, uh, wookie engineering at its finest," Eso observed. "How the hell did they put a person into a droid?"

Seia's lip curled. "An extension of the same logic one uses to make a slave collar, only far more sophisticated. It should never have been done, but it was, and Jaa survived. If someone put a restraining bolt on him, they might reduce him to nothing more than his programming, but Maxir enjoyed him screaming in pain too much to do such a thing. He used to send pulses of agony directly into Jaa's neural network just to try to get me to toe the line. You can say whatever you like about what Exar Kun and I did to those imperials in the ruins, but they deserved every second of their torment."

Yyrfh examined the comm intently, scrolling through its database regarding the droid data, before crushing it into splinters in his claws with a deep growl. Lorash knew that meant he hadn't at all liked what he saw.

"They're dead now," Corr said with a shrug. "That's all that matters."

Lorash caught one of Seia's hands as the others hurried towards the ship, stalling her for just a moment. "We're together again," she said when Seia turned questioning eyes her way, a real smile forming on her face for the first time since they'd been separated. " That's all that matters."

Seia leaned in, lips burning against Lorash's like a lightsaber's kyber. "I think we have some catching up to do," she whispered when the kiss broke apart. "Out of this armor, though."