#and Clan Taerich's now involved!

[keldae]

Drastic Measures (chapter five)

Doc had set up a respectable little makeshift clinic in his house: one narrow cot, a few precious containers of kolto, and whatever medical equipment he’d been able to purchase or steal. Humble? Sure. But Xaja had seen him do more with less before. It had been his daily existence on Balmorra, amidst swarms of giant insects. Pirates and ruffians on Rishi paled in comparison.

Xaja laid on the cot and watched Doc as he started running scans. Her dizziness had finally eased up with laying down and a small dose of whatever stim Doc administered, but her head still ached. That being said, she could almost ignore the lingering throbbing in her skull by focusing on her joy that Doc was here and alive and safe. She could also almost ignore Theron frowning as he leaned against the doorframe to watch, or Doc’s side-eye scowls at the spy. Apparently two years wasn’t enough for either of them to forget Doc’s unrequited romantic affections for the Jedi he traveled with, or how hard and fast Xaja and Theron had fallen for each other.

Fortunately, Doc wasn’t so focused on his rivalry with Theron that he would stoop to unprofessional behaviour where his patient was concerned -- especially this patient. “You said you were in carbonite?” he asked as he held a light into Xaja’s eyes, nodding in apparent satisfaction with whatever he saw.

“Yes, from about twenty minutes after arriving on Zakuul until Theron broke me out days ago.” Xaja fell silent as Doc carefully felt around her neck and jawline, frowned, and reached for his datapad to enter something in. “I’m not sure how they got Marr and I off of the ship alive.”

“There’s no way either of you should have survived. I watched that ship disintegrate.” Doc was uncharacteristically sombre. “We ran back to Coruscant and warned the Republic like you said to do, but nobody believed us, even with your brother backing us up --”

“Wait.” Xaja sat up despite her head swimming, her eyes widening. “Korin was…”

“Yeah. He got there just after we came under attack and protected the Serenity while we were stuck on that airlock. He followed us back to Coruscant when we ran since he thought-” Doc fell silent for a second. “He thought you were on board.”

“Oh, no…” Xaja felt her shoulders slump. Theron told her that Korin had all but lost his joviality and become grim and sober in the aftermath of Zakuul’s attack, but he hadn’t told her that her brother had watched the ship she was on fall apart under fire. “Did he… is he…”

“Back down.” Doc gently pushed at Xaja’s shoulder until she was on her back again so he could resume his examination. “I don’t know,” he said. “Korin kind of dropped off the face of the galaxy after Saresh told all of us to get the hell out of the Senate tower and called us all traitors to the Republic for allying with the head of the Dark Council --”

“Saresh did what?!” Xaja shot upright again, and was immediately greeted with a hand on her shoulder to firmly push her back down.

“I said down. Keep your heart rate down, you’re affecting the results of the scan I’ve got going on you.” Doc selected a syringe from a tray beside the cot and pulled it out of the sterile packaging with the efficiency of someone who’d done this countless times. “She was eating her words two days later when Arcann attacked the Core Worlds -- everywhere, all at once. Last I saw of your brother, he was taking back off from Coruscant after we got kicked out of the Senate. I’m not sure where he went.”

“He rendezvoused with your dad in the Mid-Rim,” Theron finally interjected. “I’ve caught up with him over the last couple of years. He’s okay, all things considered. As far as I’m aware, Darth Imperius and Cipher Nine are still alive too.”

“I guess Imperius dying would have been news even in Republic space.” Doc gently turned Xaja’s arm over and found a vein. “If Saresh knew your dad and little brother were an Imperial spy and another of the Dark Council…”

“Then I’d probably be kicked out of the Order, blacklisted across all of Republic space, and possibly die mysteriously.”

“Grand Master Shan liked you. She would have fought to keep you with the Jedi -- if, y’know, the Order was still functional.”

Xaja frowned as Doc expertly drew his blood sample and held a small wad of fabric against the puncture. “Theron did mention the Jedi were scattered after the war and the Order all but disbanded.”

“A lot of Jedi died in the fighting. Most of them took a few Zakuulans or Skytroopers down with them, but…” Doc sighed as he slipped the blood-filled syringe into a testing chamber. “Last I heard of Kira, she was helping some Padawans disappear, making sure there were at least a few Order survivors.”

“Did Lord Scourge help the Jedi at all, or did he return to Imperial space?”

“Not to the best of my knowledge for either.” Doc frowned at the results on his datapad, picked up a handheld scanner, and started his own manual analysis. “He just vanished one day; Rusk and I couldn’t figure out where he’d gone. Then Rusk got transferred back into the military, head of some specialized black-ops squad, and Tee-Seven’s ownership reverted to the Order. I’ve got no idea where either of them are now.”

Grief clenched itself around Xaja’s heart again as she looked at Theron’s sympathetic gaze, then at her hands, then back up at Doc. “How did you end up here?”

“There’s always people who get hurt or sick, and even more in wartime. While Coruscant was under siege, I was working in the Old Galactic Market with refugees and other stranded folks like me, and when the siege lifted, I caught the first transport offworld anywhere. Wound up world-hopping for a while until I landed here.” Doc sounded almost distracted as he frowned down at the scan results. “Been here for eight months now. Sit up and face away from me for a second.”

Xaja carefully sat back up and was pleased that the vertigo didn’t return this time. Her shoulders still slumped as she turned her back to Doc and heard the sound of the scanner moving up and down her back. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “If I’d been there…”

“I don’t think even you could have held off the Eternal Fleet by yourself, Red.” Doc lowered the scanner and squeezed her shoulder. “One Jedi against a horde of unstoppable warships… you’re good, but not that good.”

“That’s a kriffing chall-” Xaja hissed mid-word as her arm spasmed. “… ‘kay, you might have a point.”

Doc set the scanner down and tugged on Xaja’s shoulder to turn her back around. “If you hadn’t been frozen, you wouldn’t be having this problem,” he muttered as he took her arm and gingerly rubbed at the muscle.

Theron had stood up from leaning on the doorframe when Xaja’s arm seized, and now stood a couple of steps into the room at the foot of the cot. “What did they do to her?” he growled. Xaja had never heard him sound so protective. Hell, she’d never heard anyone that protective over her. She was usually the one doing the protecting.

Doc frowned at Theron, saw Xaja’s nod to give the diagnosis with the spy listening, and went back to his datapad once the Jedi’s arm had relaxed somewhat. “Most cases of carbonite sickness ease up within about forty-eight standard hours from the time of thawing. A lot of those symptoms are sensory: heightened sensitivity to sounds or lights, or dulled senses. Blindness shows up every so often too, but that usually goes away on its own.”

“I haven’t had any of those reactions,” Xaja said with a frown. “Maybe a bit of photo-sensitivity, but it’s been lightheadedness and muscle spasms and headaches. I can’t kriffing use the Force, Doc.”

“And something’s wrong with your ability to regulate your body temperature,” Theron added. “You keep showing signs of being cold, even if you’re not complaining about it. I think the only time you didn’t was in the direct sunlight when we got here.” Xaja quirked an eyebrow at her spy, then looked down at her slim frame, only now registering how she was holding her arms and legs close as though to preserve her body heat. Doc had made her take off her jacket for the examination, and now she wanted it back, despite Rishi’s heat.

“I’m not too familiar with Force-user illnesses -- we’d have to find a Jedi healer for that.” If any of them still live went unspoken in the room. “But the rest of your symptoms…” Doc looked up from his datapad, and Xaja felt her heart leap into her throat when she saw the grief in his eyes. “They botched your freezing.”

“What?” Xaja heard her pulse pounding in her ears, over the sound of Theron reaching a hand out to her shoulder supportingly.

“You’re showing symptoms of severe carbonite poisoning. A little bit might have been expected from a normal freezing, even if you’d been there for a decade or longer, but this much poisoning in only two years suggests that your carbonization process was flawed. Obviously the Zaks didn’t kark up badly enough to kill you right away, but… it’s affecting your neurological system. The muscle spasms, the dizziness, constantly feeling cold -- and chances are, your inability to use the Force right now -- they’re all stemming from significant damage to your nervous system.”

Doc sat down in a chair and ran his hands through his neatly-combed dark hair. “If Sha- if Theron had rescued you much later, it probably would have been too late to save you, unless he’d had a cure on-hand to give you the second you were out. As it is, if left untreated…”

Xaja looked over at Theron to see his hazel eyes wide with horror, then back at Doc. She was barely aware of her hand reaching up to Theron’s on her shoulder and gripping his fingers tightly. “But there is a cure for this? It’s treatable, right?”

Doc didn’t answer for a long moment, and Xaja felt a thrill of fear run through her when he finally spoke again, his voice low and heavy. “I can slow down the progression of the damage, maybe stop the symptoms temporarily. But with what I’ve got available to me, I can’t fully stop it or repair the damage that’s already done. There is a cure for carbonite poisoning, but it’s incredibly difficult to make or find. Even before the war, it would have cost millions of credits.”

“And now?” Theron’s voice was tight, almost as tight as his grip on Xaja’s hand.

“Now, you could probably ransom a small moon with it.” Doc looked back up at them and Xaja wanted to cry when she saw the despair in her friend’s eyes. “I can try to make a workaround for this, but with damage this extensive…” He abruptly stood up again and moved to one of the storage cabinets against the wall. “At the least, I can keep the symptoms at bay and slow the damage until we can get our hands on a permanent cure.”

Xaja looked back at Theron, then at Doc again. “What about Force-healing? If we can find a skilled Jedi healer -- or Hells, even a Sith healer -- could they do something?”

“They’d have to be damn good at what they do to fix this.” Doc’s mustache twitched as he thought. “Then again, an exceptionally well-trained healer might be able to undo some of the damage that’s already been done. If we can find any of the Jedi survivors…” He came back around to Xaja’s side with a handful of stims and drugs in hand. “Okay, sit tight, this is probably going to sting a bit.”

“It can’t be worse than the spasms,” Xaja mumbled as she gingerly rubbed her abdomen where the spasm had made her stop breathing only a few hours ago. “Do your worst.”

“With you? Never. What kinda doctor do you think I am?” Doc almost sounded teasing as usual then. “Does the SIS have any leads on where the rest of the Jedi might be hiding?” he asked with a pointed look at Theron.

The spy shrugged. “If they do, I’m not privy to it. I’m not exactly with the SIS anymore. It’s a long story.”

“You what?” Doc stared up at Theron for a second, then shook his head. “I don’t wanna know. Can you find out about Jedi survivors anyway?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Theron let go of Xaja’s hand with a final squeeze and stooped to kiss her cheek. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. Xaja could tell he was trying to be brave for her. “We’re not giving up, no matter what.” He gave her a small, if worried, smile as he stepped back out through the doorway, already pulling his datapad off his belt.

Doc shook his head again as Theron’s back vanished down the hallway, then started administering the medication to his patient. “Okay, first up’s for the vertigo and the headaches, and then this one’s ‘cause I know the first one will make you nauseous.” There was silence for a few seconds as the drugs were injected into Xaja’s bloodstream, then Doc spoke again. “So… you and him still have that thing going?”

Xaja nodded and tried not to wince as a third syringe was emptied into her arm. “Yeah, it is. He’d apparently been thinking of me the entire time I was gone, and I’m still not sure how he found me to get me out.”

“Hmm. He either makes you smile without caring who sees it, or he’s the reason you stop smiling. No middle ground with this one, hmm?”

“Ziost wasn’t his fault. Neither is this.” Xaja watched as Doc readied another medicine-loaded syringe. “Please tell me that one’s not for my leg…”

“I could, but you never cared for lying. You know the drill. Why you’re with a professional liar still confuses me.”

“Theron’s not -- okay, yeah, he’s a spy, but he would never lie to me.” Xaja lowered her trousers down enough for her hip to be accessible and yelped as the needle found its mark -- no matter how many times Doc had done that on her over their years of traveling together, it still hurt and she still hated it. Doc muttered an apology as he finished administering the medication. “So… two years gone. I’m half surprised there’s no lady around for your affections.”

Doc shrugged and didn’t meet her eyes as he put the empty syringes away. “Had a couple of flings, but nothing felt right. I’ve been keeping myself busy here with the clinic -- there’s always lots of people who need a doctor. Besides, the busier I am… the less I can think. Hurts less that way.”

Xaja reached over and grabbed Doc’s hand, making him freeze in mid-motion. “I thought you all were dead,” she quietly said. “When Theron said he hadn’t been able to locate any of you… I thought I lost my best friends.”

“We weren’t gonna die nearly that easy, not while we had to make sure you lived on somehow.” Doc squeezed her hand and gave Xaja a small, but genuine smile. “If I made it, I’m sure everyone else did too. We’ll find them.”

“The galaxy would have been a worse place without you in it.” Xaja returned the smile. “You’ve always been one of my best friends, Doc -- I’m glad you’re all right.”

“Wouldn’t have minded being more than ‘best friends’, but I’m not looking to get murdered in my sleep by the current boyfriend for trying it. At least he’s better than Kota was.” Doc finally let go of Xaja’s hand and resumed putting away his medical equipment. “Okay, the doses I gave you should hold you for a few days, but I’ll need to keep re-administering it to make sure you stay alive. I don’t know how well you’ll be able to use the Force, but you should be able to function otherwise.”

“Thank you so much, Doc.”

“Anytime, Red. It’s the least I can do to have you back and alive.”

Theron wasn’t expecting to be greeted with several notifications of mail, most of it marked urgent. He frowned and tapped the notification to bring up the messages, putting aside his search for Jedi survivors for the moment. Nobody should have been sending anything to me while I was in hyperspace. Korin knew I was on comm silence, and nobody else knew where I was- why are most of the messages from him or my father, and even one from my mother? Did something happen?

His outbox was blinking too. Theron’s frown deepened. I didn’t send any messages! He tapped on the icon to figure out what was wrong... then saw the cheery notification of his timed messages being automatically sent right on schedule, three entire standard days ago. He felt the blood drain from his face. “Fuck,” he whispered as his heart stopped for a second. Oh no. Oh nooooo. I forgot about the suicide notes. Oh, fuck, Korin’s going to kill me if my parents don’t first…

He quickly pulled up the tab to compose a message to his parents and best friend, but was interrupted by the sound of something large and heavy smashing into Kimble’s front door. The datapad went back onto his belt as he ran back toward the entrance of the clinic, nearly colliding with Kimble as the medic hurried in the same direction. “Who’d you piss off this time, Kimble?” the spy asked as he drew a blaster.

“Hey, some of us don’t go around actively getting into trouble, Shan. Everyone in Raider’s Cove loves me… I think.” Kimble poked his head around the corner and winced when he saw how badly dented his front door was. “That’s gonna be an expensive repair bill.”

The door shuddered again as a heavy fist pounded against it. “You got ten seconds to open this door, Doc, or we’re comin’ in!” The voice was rough and loud, with a tone that hinted its owner was quite used to bellowing orders.

“Hey, hey!” Kimble yelled back at the intruders. “I’m happy to give you medical attention, but form a kriffing line and wait your turn, dammit!”

“We don’t want no medical things! We want them two you’re hiding in there!”

Theron exchanged a worried look with Kimble, seeing the doctor’s eyebrows go up as he shouted his response. “Haven’t you heard of patient confidentiality? I’m not clearing my patients to leave my care or have visitors.”

“You think you’re gettin’ a choice in the matter? We’re takin’ the girl an’ the guy with her, an’ maybe we won’t shoot you on the way out. You ain’t worth fifty million credits like they are, but maybe we’ll see if someone wants you dead too.”

Kimble’s eyes bulged as Theron felt his heart thud in his throat. “Wait, how much?”

“Fifty mil. Each. You let us in, maybe we’ll cut you a bit of that.”

There was a moment of stunned silence before Kimble looked at Theron. “Who the hell did you piss off this time?” he lowly hissed at the spy.

“I didn’t even blow anything up, and the Zaks shouldn’t have been able to identify me!” Theron whispered as he started edging backwards. “You got a back exit?”

“What kind of an overly-trusting idiot do you think I am?” Kimble raised his voice. “Gimme a bit. You morons wrecked my door and it’ll be a pain getting it open.”

“We’ll be here, doc. You can buy a whole new door after we’re done.”

“Delightful.” Kimble engaged the secondary lock on the door, then turned and hurried back down the corridor with Theron. “They’re gonna catch on soon,” he muttered. “Down the hallway, in the sublevels, the code to access the basement is 3-7-9-1-2-0. It’ll dump us out on the beach itself. Get Xaja out of here while I grab my gear.”

“How much gear do you need?” Theron asked as they rounded the corner into the clinic. Xaja was sitting up on the cot, already looking less weak and frail, but pale now with worry.

“To keep her alive? A lot.” Kimble opened up one of the storage lockers and retrieved an old rucksack, which he started filling with his medical gear.

“What’s going on?” Xaja stood up from the cot, looking back and forth between Theron and Kimble. “Did the Zakuulans catch up?”

“Someone did,” Theron said as he tossed the Jedi her jacket, then handed her the twin lightsabers. “Either the Zaks or someone else who’d pay fifty million for your head.”

“And yours,” Kimble helpfully added as he dived into another storage unit.

“Wait, what?” Xaja’s eyes went wide as she attached one lightsaber to her belt, but kept the other one in her hand. “Fifty million each?”

“Apparently.” Theron looked over his shoulder at the sounds of another thud against the mangled front door. “How much more do you need to grab, Kimble?”

“How about my kriffing credsticks?” Kimble ran out the clinic door and hauled ass toward his living quarters. He returned in under a minute. “Let’s move before --” He cringed at the sound of the door splintering. “That.”

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever agreed with you on anything,” Theron muttered as he followed the doctor and Xaja toward the sublevel access. The feeling of his datapad bumping against his hip reminded him of his grievous error, but he didn’t have time to call his parents or Korin to reassure them he wasn’t dead. At least he had enough experience with forming messages on the run that he could send a short note through his implant connection. Not dead yet. Can’t talk, will explain later. Sorry. T.

The sounds of booted feet clicking on the floor of the Citadel echoed through the cavernous hallways, red banners on the walls doing little to absorb the echo. Normally Lana disliked the audible sign of her approaching presence to anyone who might be listening, but today, she didn’t care. Her focus was given less to who could hear her coming and more to the news she carried.

She wasn’t stopped by any of Darth Imperius’ guards as she marched into his private office. With he, Vowrawn, and Acina being the only survivors of the Dark Council, she considered him her direct superior. Sith didn’t generally trust others, especially not other Sith, but they also did not generally charge into another’s office in the middle of a Taungsday with homicidal intent. It helped, too, that Lana knew Imperius well.

The tall human looked over from his holocom conversation as Lana entered his office, his brow furrowing in a puzzled frown. He’d all but given up on wearing Kallig’s mask, and he’d pushed his hood back. The light revealed a tired face, long brown hair in a nerftail, and lines under his eyes. “You know the plan and your orders, Andronikos. Contact me with any developments.” The little blue hologram of Captain Revel vanished, and Imperius looked back toward Lana. “I thought you’d left to investigate the new resistance cell that you heard rumours of on Ryloth.”

“I still plan on heading out soon,” Lana said as she extended a datapad, and tried to ignore how her hand was shaking. “But this just came through on Intelligence’s networks… you need to see it.”

“From my father directly?” The man known to perhaps two dozen people in the galaxy as Sorand Taerich accepted the datapad with a frown and pulled open the file.

“No. I haven’t had any updates from your father since he met up with your brother and the resistance cell on Tatooine. I’ve forwarded this to him as well, and I expect he’ll want to take a personal look into it.” Lana clasped her hands in front of her and waited, having to force herself to not fidget like a mere acolyte.

“Huh.” Sorand leaned back in his chair and scrolled through the message. “A terrorist attacking the Spire and running off with the so-called Outlander assassin? I’d thought the assassin was a myth.” He blinked as he read further. “Fifty million credits says apparently not.” He looked up at Lana. “So, it is possible for someone to strike Zakuul deeply enough to spook Arcann. This is good news.”

“Keep reading. The fifty million credit bounty on each of their heads isn’t why I ran back here to show you this.”

Sorand frowned, then tapped the datapad to bring up the rest of the message. Lana watched as the other Sith’s face suddenly fell slack, his eyes bulging, and face draining of all colour. “Impossible…” he whispered. He looked back up, as startled as Lana had ever seen him. “When did this come in?”

“I received it half an hour ago. Our sources date it as only two days old. This intel is fresh.” Lana frowned at the datapad. “I thought your father had said that Theron Shan was dead, according to your brother.”

“So did I. Either Theron’s still alive or he’s got a twin somewhere. But kriff Theron…” Sorand looked back at the datapad, then at Lana again. “My sister’s alive?”

“Unless she has an exact lookalike somewhere, it appears that she is not only alive, but the Outlander assassin herself.”

Sorand set the datapad on the desk and ran his hands through his hair, disbelief and shock and maybe hope revealed on his face. “She…” He abruptly stood up. “I need to contact my father and make sure he’s heard this. You haven’t heard any reports of where they might have escaped to?”

“Not yet.” Lana fell into step beside Sorand as he hurried for the more secure holo console. “But the resistance group on Ryloth is rumoured to have Zakuulan defectors within it -- perhaps they can tell us more about your sister.”

“Good. I’ll let my wife know about the new bounty posting. She may be able to get her people looking for them to protect them.”

“Are you sure there aren’t Mandalorians who would try to collect on one of those bounties themselves?” Lana asked with a concerned frown.

“None with any sort of self preservation instinct. Shara would shoot them for trying, if I didn’t get to them first. I think most of them know that.” Sorand’s smile was predatory in nature. “Confirm the presence of any Zakuulan defectors with the Rylothian resistance. If they’re not with that group, keep looking until you track them down. Let me know if there’s anything you require.”

“A clone,” Lana deadpanned, and Sorand snorted. “Thank you, my lord -- you and your father will be the first I contact with any new information.”

Sorand nodded. “Good luck. May the Force guide you.” He started tapping in the codes for a secure transmission to his father as Lana hurried back down the corridor, and made sure the room was closed and private before the old agent answered the call. “Dad, I don’t know if you’ve seen Lana’s new intel, but it’s big…”

Reanden disconnected the call with his younger son and sat down hard on a chair, running his hands over his face. He didn’t want to entertain the hope that his missing daughter might be alive, years after her disappearance; a second bout with such heartbreak would kill him, or so he felt. It was too risky to assume that Xaja might still be alive. But Lana’s intel seemed to check out, and Sorand certainly seemed to believe it.

The old Cipher pulled up the transcript of the bounty posting and studied the two attached images of the supposed assassin and terrorist, currently leading Zakuul’s Most Wanted list. They weren’t the greatest of images, clearly taken from security cameras as the two fugitives escaped the Spire, but they were clear enough to show faces. Yes, the male did resemble Theron Shan, down to the implants and the stupid hairstyle. Terrorism and attacking civilians isn’t Shan’s style though. Unless he’s actually gone completely off the deep end, not just rogue. His contacts in the SIS had confirmed that Shan quit his job and vanished from Coruscant only a couple of weeks after the siege ended, over a year ago. This was the first solid rumour as to where he’d gone since then. (And oh, how Kothe had been ready to punch the younger agent, ex-Jedi or not.)

The woman with him… The hair was right. The facial structure was correct. The fact that she apparently stood head and shoulders shorter than her male cohort was a point in her favour. The worried frown on her face… it could have been his wife’s expression. Even the armour resembled what she’d reportedly been wearing when she’d been killed. A ghost? No, a ghost wouldn’t show up on a security camera. He couldn’t confirm it without seeing the girl in person, but she resembled his missing daughter so closely, his heart ached within his chest. Xaja…

He needed to see her in the flesh to confirm if this was an impostor or if Xaja had somehow survived the destruction of Darth Marr’s ship. A quick strokes into an encrypted channel sent a ping out to his extensive network of contacts and spies in the galaxy. Attached were images of what looked like the identical twins of Xaja Taerich and Theron Shan, and a message: Need any news on these two for their protection. Compensation will be arranged.

Within minutes, he received answering pings from his contacts on various planets. Nothing seen yet on Nar Shaddaa or Hutta… a possible resemblance on Denon… then one from Rishi. Male target sighted. Inquiring re: medic for wife (?). Unconfirmed sighting of female target.

Shan wouldn’t have gotten married -- the boy’s a diehard bachelor. ‘Wife’ must be a cover. If that is Xaja with him… is she ill or injured? Why would Shan be asking about a medic for her? Reanden’s eyes narrowed in thought, then glanced down at another ping, this one from Corellia. No sighting yet. Targets subject of bounty posting from Zakuul. Advise speed if you want them alive. 50 mil spends well.

Fierfek. Reanden shot to his feet and plugged in Korin’s holo frequency as he started typing in the coordinates for Rishi. “Are you sure Theron’s dead?” he asked as soon as his older son answered the call.

“I tried sending messages to his account. He never answered them or picked up a holocall.” Korin still sounded despondent over his friend’s supposed suicide. “Why do you ask?”

“Take a look at the file I’m sending you.” Reanden sat back and waited while Korin accepted the transmission and pulled open the file on his datapad. The younger man froze, paling visibly. “Breathe, son.”

“How… that’s not… both of them?!” Korin dropped the datapad and raked his fingers through his messy hair, then snatched it back up to stare at the images. “Kriff. That’s him, unless he’s got a twin somewhere. And Xaja…”

There was a sudden series of excited beeps, and Reanden frowned as a familiar looking astromech came into range of the holo. “Is that her droid?”

“Oh. Yeah. I, uh…” Korin shifted uncomfortably. “I may or may not have stolen Tee-Seven from the Order. It wasn’t like Xaja was using him… dammit, that means I’ll have to give him back if that’s actually her.” Tee-Seven beeped his excitement.

“Whether or not they actually are Xaja and Theron,” Reanden said as he shook his head at his son’s actions and prepped his hyperdrive for a jump, “they’re both worth fifty million credits to that half-metal pain in the ass on Zakuul. We need to find them first if we’re going to get our answers.”

“I’ll put out feelers with my miscreant buddies. Pays to know most of the underworld.” Korin put the datapad back down and turned to start plugging at his navicomputer. “I’m due to be making a supply run for the cell soon anyway. Got a friend who considers herself queen of the underworld, so she’ll know things sooner than we will. What’s your plan?”

“One of my contacts claims to have seen Theron on Rishi. I’m heading over to investigate.”

“Yeeesh. Rishi’s not going to be dangerous at all for them with that kind of money on their heads and pirates everywhere.”

“Let’s hope most of those pirates hate Zakuul more than they love credits.” Reanden knew that was a long shot, but it was still a tiny hope. “I should be there within a few hours. Keep trying to raise Theron on comms and let me know if-” He frowned as the cheery ping of a new text message suddenly sounded. “Was that yours or mine?”

“Mine.” Korin opened up the message and froze, the expressions on his face shifting from shock to disbelief to confusion to joy to pure, unadulterated fury in the space of about two seconds. “I’m going to kill him.”

“What?”

“Dad, would you not say it’s a bit more polite to say more than ‘Not dead, can’t talk, chat later’ when one’s just faked his suicide and then rocked up on the other side of the galaxy? By the way, I can confirm Theron at least is alive, or will be until I get my hands on his kriffing neck.”

“The idiot.” Reanden sighed and shook his head. “I’ll punch him for you if I catch them first.”

“Please do. Good luck.”

“You too. Happy hunting.” The agent disconnected the call and jumped to hyperspace, the Shadow disappearing among the stars. Shan, if that’s actually you, I’m going to sit back and let Korin strangle you to death. Xaja, if you’re alive… I’m coming, baby girl. Stay alive until I get there.

#drastic measures #dun dun duuuuuuuun #theron/xaja #Theron Shan x Jedi Knight #oh the angst #Doc is the bearer of bad news #and Xaja is the most expensive girlfriend ever apparently #this is what happens when Theron's left in charge of anything #Zakuul's Most Wanted #and Lana finally shows up! #and Clan Taerich's now involved! #the daddy feels from Reanden #and yes Korin totally stole T7 #Xaja's gonna be maaaaad #Clan Taerich #KOTFE AU #alternate universe

[keldae]

Inspired by @theswtorblog! I technically COULD just write out the entire backstory for Clan Taerich. I probably should, too.

But I’m lazy. So here’s the Sparknotes Summary of the Taerich Legacy!

12 BTC: Reanden Taerich, a new graduate of Intelligence Training School, meets a pretty Jedi woman on Alderaan. After trying and failing to kill each other multiple times, Reanden and the Jedi, one Aerdna Drallig, realized they’d fallen for each other. Somewhere around this point, Reanden starts supplying information to the SIS and swaps loyalties to the Republic. He keeps this hidden from everyone, especially his younger brother, Lord Maglion (known eventually as the Emperor’s Wrath).

7 BTC: Xaja Taerich is born on Lavisar. With the Empire closing in on the neutral sector where Lavisar’s located, her parents make the decision to send her to Coruscant for Jedi training while they still can so she doesn’t ever face Korriban.

5 BTC: Korin Taerich is born. He’s not as strong in the Force as his sister, but Aerdna still tries to hide him from any chance of ever winding up on Korriban.

3 BTC: Sorand Taerich is born. He’s every bit as strong in the Force as Xaja, enough that when he’s born in what is now definitively Imperial territory, Aerdna goes “... Shit. I can’t hide this kid.”

0 BTC: The Sacking occurs and the Jedi Temple on Coruscant is destroyed. Xaja Taerich is presumed deceased by her parents, although she managed to escape through the sublevels into the Works.

3 ATC: Having spent the last three years thieving and begging to survive, Xaja stows away on a ship bound for Ord Mantell. She immediately falls back on her old habits of pick-pocketing unsuspecting victims who don’t look at a little girl, but makes the fortunate mistake of trying to steal from a Jedi Padawan. The Padawan’s Master realizes this child is a Jedi survivor from Coruscant and takes her back to their enclave on Dantooine.

7 ATC: While Reanden is offworld doing super-secret spy things, raiders secretly backed by Maglion attack the town where Reanden’s family lives. Korin escapes the raid by stowing away on a passing smuggler’s ship and eventually makes it to Nar Shaddaa (he gets informally adopted by the smugglers and learns everything they know). Aerdna is killed trying to defend her home (the last time she takes up her lightsabers) and Sorand is captured and taken as a slave. When Reanden rushes home, he vows to avenge his wife and find his missing sons. Far away on Dantooine, Xaja wakes up screaming from a nightmare in which she witnessed her mother’s death.

12 ATC: Xaja is transferred to Tython and begins training under Master Orgus Din. Begin Knight storyline.

14 ATC: While doing more super-secret spy things, Reanden catches rumour of another group of slavers trading primarily children. He goes to investigate and realizes Sorand is in that group (Sorand has developed something of a reputation as a troublemaker and a constant attempted escape artist with other slavers, and although he’s never gotten free himself, he’s helped several other children escape). When Reanden tries to rescue his son, the slavers shoot him and leave him for dead. Sorand witnesses this, and believing that his father is dead, goes psychotic and channels the Force publicly for the first time, killing one of the slavers with lightning before he’s overpowered. A passing Sith sees this and immediately claims Sorand for Korriban. Begin Inquisitor storyline.

15 ATC: After recovering from his injuries and seething over losing track of Sorand, Reanden re-enters the Intelligence corps and is assigned to Hutta. Begin Agent storyline. Around the same time, Korin (now a fully-fledged smuggler captain in his own right) accepts a contract to deliver blasters to Ord Mantell. Begin Smuggler storyline. 

16 ATC: Reanden finds the slavers who’d shot him and taken Sorand away from him again. He determines that his son was sent to Korriban before killing the entire crew. Ironically enough, Sorand has been tracking down those same slavers ever since he was taken as Zash’s apprentice with the goal of revenge for his father’s death, and tracks them down only days later. He’s thoroughly annoyed to find out that someone’s gotten there first, but Revel points out that the executions look like revenge killings. Sorand does more digging over the years and starts to suspect that his father might not be as dead as he’d thought. Reanden gets assigned to go as a double-agent with the SIS, and because people in the SIS suck at communicating, Kothe doesn’t know that Reanden’s been an SIS agent for years. Go mental programming!

17 ATC: Xaja’s strike team arrives on the Emperor’s battle station, and it goes every bit as poorly as everyone who’s played the Knight story knows. Still in recovery from freeing himself from the mental programming, Reanden catches wind of new Jedi-turned-Acolytes, hears his daughter’s name listed among the captives, and drops everything to get on board the station. He’s there when Orgus Din’s ghost helps Xaja break free of Vitiate’s mind control, and works with Scourge to get her and her crew out of Imperial Space. He then dives back into his regular SIS/Intelligence work before he can be caught.

18 ATC: Sorand’s on Voss, getting mental healing from the Force-ghosts in his head, when he gets in a duel with a Jedi Knight. He stops fighting when he hears her Padawan say “Master Taerich”, and introduces himself as Sorand Taerich. Xaja figures out that this must be her brother. They part on... if not good terms, at least neutral ground, with the silent hope that they never see each other again, for their own sakes.

Also 18 ATC: Korin and Reanden literally run into each other (it was dark and Corellia’s a bitch to navigate when it’s not a warzone, to be entirely fair). Korin recognizes his father and nearly has a heart attack, because he’d been convinced his entire family was dead. Reanden is relieved to know that one of his sons is alive and free, and tells him that his sister’s still alive.

Still 18 ATC: Xaja is successful in her assassination of the Emperor (or so she thinks). Korin resolves his little misunderstanding with Rogun the Butcher and takes down the Voidwolf. Reanden parts amicably with Kothe, agreeing to work for the SIS as a mole in the Empire. Sorand defeats Thanaton and ascends to the Dark Council as Darth Imperius. Not long after, he finally tracks down Reanden. The two agree to keep their father-son relationship hidden, mostly for Sorand’s benefit, but Reanden is brought on as a public adviser to Imperius. Months later, the entire Makeb situation blows up and gets Xaja, Korin, and Reanden all involved. Korin and Reanden wind up working together on the sly, but neither of them become aware of Xaja’s presence. During this time, Sorand winds up getting with the Champion of the Great Hunt, Shara Verhayc (my friend’s OC from an old RP guild I was part of way back when). For obvious reasons, they both keep this a secret.

19 ATC: Xaja and Sorand both wind up on Oricon, but somehow successfully avoid each other the entire time. Not long after, the Shadow of Revan arc begins, and Xaja and Korin finally meet each other. The entire family is reunited on Manaan while tracking down Arkous and Darok.

20 ATC: Ziost happens. Not long after, Xaja is aboard Darth Marr’s flagship when it’s destroyed by the Eternal Fleet, and she’s taken prisoner and presumed KIA.

21 ATC: The Wrath, Maglion (who’s fanatically devoted to Vitiate) tracks down Sorand and tries to kill him. Sorand has just enough warning to escape and fake his own death. He winds up hiding with his wife’s Mandalorian clan. Not long after, Korin meets up with Theron Shan, and agrees to be trained to SIS agent standards to be a personal minion/protege for Theron. They wind up becoming good friends.

25 ATC: Xaja’s broken out of carbonite prison by Lana Beniko and escapes to Odessen, and the rest is history. Reanden, Korin, and Sorand all wind up on Odessen shortly after.

26 ATC: The Wrath, Maglion, makes one final attempt to kill Darth Imperius and the rest of Clan Taerich. He’s finally shot by Reanden, but not before Xaja and Korin both suffer serious injury.

28 ATC: Xaja marries Theron Shan. They have a son, Daenril.

29 ATC: The Train Incident that shall not be named goes down here.

#the taerich legacy #clan taerich #swtor #swtor ocs #I have too much time on my hands #backstory #headcanon