The Family Business

Malgus had escaped yet again. Xaja felt the bite of failure in her objective to stop the rogue Sith, as much as she felt the pressure of stone blocks pinning her to the ground. The bombardment of Naga Sadow's fortress had been an unwelcome addition to her efforts to stop Malgus, Jadus, and the Hidden Chain.

Malgus was gone. Jadus had escaped. And the Hidden Chain… well, at least one objective had been accomplished, even if at the cost of Shae's life. Heta Kol would never be a problem again.

Swearing under her breath, Xaja tried to use the Force to lift the stone block she was trapped under. She was lucky that she hadn't been crushed; the ceiling block was held up by other rubble, trapping the Jedi in a space small enough that she couldn't move more than a few inches. She bit back her panic at being in a tight, dark, enclosed space, and struggled to lift the block over her again.

But even with the Force, it was too heavy, and she couldn't budge it a centimetre. Trying to not think about how much air she had left in her little tomb, Xaja slumped back on the ground and reached out with the Force. Her mind cast out, looking for friendly signatures. Jekiah and Rass must have escaped, potentially with Shae's body – she couldn't sense either Mandalorian nearby, and didn't want to entertain the thought of either man dying. For a moment, she couldn't sense her brothers, or Theron, or Lana, and that made the panic come back in force. If they'd been killed by the Republic's bombardment of the site –

No, wait. She could feel familiar presences approaching, and recognised the grey bond in her mind that connected her to Lana. Her Sith advisor had survived and was on her way – she must have received the distress signal Xaja had sent over comms. The Jedi relaxed slightly, looking up in the pitch-black darkness of her rubble pile. Help was coming.

Dust suddenly fell onto her face, making her nose twitch. She grimaced, then suddenly felt fresh air on her face as one of the blocks on top of her was removed. “Xaja!” she heard Theron's frantic voice shout. “Come on, don't do this to me…”

“I'm here!” Xaja shouted back, coughing as she inhaled a lungful of dust. She started squirming, trying to get free of the rubble.

Another block was lifted away with the Force; footsteps approached at a run; and Theron appeared in Xaja's line of vision. He looked dusty and weary, with a new blaster burn in his jacket and a nasty scrape under his right eye. But he seemed hale as he dropped to his knees beside Xaja and all but hauled her upright. “I've got you,” he whispered as he held her closely. “You're safe now. Force, how bad are you hurt?”

Xaja managed to throw her arm around Theron's neck, her other hand reaching to grab his jacket. “Bruises and a headache,” she answered. Jadus’ mind trap had been migraine-inducing. “And I just hurt everywhere. Are you okay?”

“Fine. I'm fine.” Theron squeezed Xaja a little tighter, loosening his grip only when she hissed in discomfort. “Think you've got more than ‘bruises and a headache’ going on... Lana!”

Another piece of rubble was picked up and set away. “One moment,” Lana answered as she picked her way up to the newly-freed Jedi. Molten gold eyes scanned the smaller woman's body as their owner frowned. “You're lucky you're not dead, Xaja,” she said as she reached out with the Force. “Cracked ribs, fractured shin, concussion…”

“Oh.” Xaja made a face as she felt Lana healing her. “We've got bigger problems than my non-lethal injuries. Jadus and Malgus both escaped, Malgus was able to activate Nul's machine, and Shae… she's dead. So is Heta Kol.”

“We knew about Shae,” Lana quietly said as she and Theron helped Xaja to her feet. “Rass reached us on the comms.”

“And Rava is a dead man for bombarding us,” Theron muttered. He pulled Xaja's arm over his shoulders and wrapped his own arm around her waist. “Can you walk if I help you?”

Xaja nodded and let Theron help her out of the rubble. “When we find Malgus,” she muttered, “I'm going to–” She hissed as she put her weight on her right leg. Apparently that was the leg she'd broken, and was still tender from Lana's healing. “I'm going to make him wish he'd been eaten by something big and scary. And when we find Jadus, I'm going to let my dad skin him alive.”

Time was short, and Lana knew it. Casting a glance behind her, she strode up to the carbonite-frozen victim on Arcann's trophy wall, feeling the weight of a modified dart pistol in her hand. She trusted T7-01 to keep an eye on the corridor outside this chamber, but she was still anxious. If a Skytrooper patrol happened to come down here right now, or a Zakuulan officer, or (Force help her) Vaylin or Arcann themselves…

No. This will work. Any other outcome was not acceptable.

Lana tapped in a code on the side of the carbonite slab that was Xaja Taerich's frozen tomb and stood back. The data that Cipher Nine and Theron had found weighed heavily on her mind – the Zakuulans had botched the freezing process when they'd taken Xaja captive. Hopefully the Jedi was still alive in the carbonite.

“Don't try to move,” she said, her voice calm and soothing despite her concern, as the grey metal started to melt. If Xaja was alive and regaining consciousness, she would be disoriented and possibly on the verge of panic – perhaps Lana’s familiar voice would keep her calm. “You're dying.” She raised her hand with the dart pistol, taking aim like Theron had taught her. “I may have your cure,” she added as she got a glimpse of pale skin and red hair amidst the melting grey carbonite, “but I'm not going to lie – this will hurt.” She fired, and the dart of precious medicine shot into Xaja's newly-exposed shoulder.

The carbonite melted enough for the Jedi to fall to her hands and knees on the durasteel floor with a groan – she was clearly in pain, but she was alive and breathing! This rescue was off to a good start. Feeling a small, tense smile on her lips, Lana set down the pistol. “That wasn't quite so bad, was it?” she added, watching the smaller woman writhe through her pain.

Xaja raised her head at Lana's voice, green eyes (clouded with pain, but alert) honing in on the Sith. “Wha… who are you? Where are we?”

The smile fell from Lana's face. “You don't remember me? Blast it… you must be suffering carbonite freezing side effects.” Oh, this was a complication to her rescue effort. “What is the last thing that you remember? We're currently on Zakuul.”

“Za… what?” Xaja shook her head, then studied Lana as she unsteadily got back to her feet. “Your accent… you're a Sith…” She reached a hand for her belt, seeking the lightsabers currently on Lana's person as fear and anger made themselves visible in her eyes.

“I am,” Lana answered after a moment of hesitation, grateful that she held Xaja’s weapons herself. “But I am not your enemy, Xaja Taerich.”

Xaja's eyes narrowed. “How the hells do you know my name?”

“At one point, we were allies… dare I say friends, of a sort.” Lana felt herself paling. “Do you not remember anything? Rishi, Yavin Four, Manaan? The Revanites? Ziost?”

Shaking her head, Xaja straightened up, still holding a hand to her stomach as though she was nauseous. “Trust a Sith to tell lies,” she spat out. “I would never be friends or allies with one of you!”

Lana = telling truth, Teeseven beeped from the doorway. Republic + Empire = temporary truce on Yavin Four with Revanite crisis. Master Satele + Darth Marr = leaders.

“Teeseven!” Xaja sagged in relief. At least she recognised her astromech droid. “What's going on? Where's Master Orgus?”

She's asking for her master? The mentor who died a decade ago? Lana felt dread close in around her heart. How much of Xaja’s memory was gone? “He…”

The droid whistled sadly. Master Orgus = died years ago. Xaja = Jedi Master + Republic hero. Xaja =/= remember?

“... Master Orgus is dead?” Xaja, already pale in the dim light, went a shade more white. “That can't be… how did he die?”

Master Orgus = killed by Darth Angral. Xaja = destroyed Angral + saved Tython.

“Angral?” Xaja frowned, then looked sharply back at Lana. “Was he your master, Sith? Are you here for revenge?”

“I never met Darth Angral,” Lana truthfully answered. “I know you have a million questions, but we don't have time to restore your memory of the last decade. Do you still remember how to use these?” She reached for the back of her belt, unclipping Xaja's lightsabers and handing them over.

Xaja hesitated, looking at the weapons. “Those aren't mine…”

“You lost your first two weapons in Imperial captivity – which I had nothing to do with, and I'm trying to keep you safe from,” Lana answered. “These used to be your mother's before your father got them to you. Now come – I promised him that I would get you out of here, or die trying.” She sighed when Xaja continued to hesitate. “They aren't Sith lightsabers – the crystals are blue. Test them if you don't believe me.”

With hands that trembled, Xaja accepted the lightsabers, igniting one as she studied the hilt and cobalt-blue blade. “... They do feel right,” she finally admitted. “The crystals feel… familiar.” She deactivated the weapon and stashed both hilts on her belt. “Do you have a name? Teeseven called you Lana?”

“Lana Beniko,” the Sith answered with a nod. “I'll answer as many of your questions as I can, but we need to move before the alarm is raised. The man who held you prisoner here will not be pleased with your escape.” She started walking backwards toward the corridor door, keeping an eye on the wary Jedi.

Xaja finally seemed to decide that she had no better options besides trusting the Sith, and fell into step with Lana. Her footsteps felt uncertain, and she still looked pale and ill, but she was alive and physically as hale as one could hope for. “Where do we go from here?”

“I have a friend waiting with a shuttle to get us offworld,” Lana answered. “From there, we rendezvous with at least one of your brothers and figure out the next stage of our plan–”