Private Rapture

[Cato Harth]

By the time either Cato or Dathan had recovered enough to rejoin the fray, Inanna was already heavily engaged with the Shard, and hit it with a decisive coup de grace that hit with concussive force. Cato watched one of the crystalline fragments skid across the floor in front of him, and picked it up to examine, "Huh." Was all he said aloud, before turning his focus back to the door. This was the place, it seemed.

"Are you prepared to put an end to this?" Dathan asked.

"Our child is in there. If they have her…" Cato raised a hand, "Just— Let us handle this." For all of the villain's holier-than-thou grandstanding, he didn't trust Dathan to be unwilling to crack a few proverbial eggs to make an omelette.

Dathan naturally played up his innocence, touching a hand to his heart, "But of course. I would never think to—"

"Go open the door. I'll let you do the honors this time," Cato interrupted him impatiently, but managed to sneak in a jab regarding his earlier victory in their little impromptu competition. Dathan fell silent, the unamusement in his eyes visible behind the mask, and he stepped up to the console to do the job. In short order he had the blast doors slowly reopening, forcing them open a little quicker with a Forceful shove.

Inside, the golden robed Yarrow and his acolytes were gazing through a viewport, one which gave them an interior view of the ring. Around them, lackeys were performing routine duties across a network of consoles that no doubt operated the station. On cue with their arrival, a number of faint golden beams all collided in the center of the ring— Slowly but surely coalescing into a greater singularity. Yarrow turned to meet their guests head on, "The time has come. Are you prepared to repent?" He raised a hand, holding a wriggling Serena aloft.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna paid attention to the conversation between Cato and Dathan, shooting the latter a sharp glare when he started to argue. After what he did to Cato, there was no way she was letting him get anywhere near Serena. He finally agreed to play along, opening the doors for them. Inanna wasn’t sure what to expect inside the control room, but she was on her guard from the moment she stepped inside.

Any sense of control or preparedness evaporated when she saw Serena wriggling in midair, suspended by Yarrow’s telekinesis, apparently unharmed but wide-eyed as she looked around the unfamiliar environment.

The lights inside the ring joined together, preparing to fire on the planet below. A rush of panic brought a lump to Inanna’s throat and tears to her eyes. They had to stop it, but Serena…

"The time has come. Are you prepared to repent?"

“Yes,” Inanna answered hoarsely, dropping to one knee. “Just don't hurt her, please.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Yarrow grunted, "How quickly your whims change. Fickle," He observed, shuffling closer, "One step forward. Two steps back. You are influenced by your attachments. To this child." He looked out the viewport, "You must understand. This is the only way. To save them, and everyone else. Think of how much strife we could rid the galaxy of? In just one fell swoop."

"It's genocide," Cato said, "This isn't the Jedi way. You've become that which you swore to destroy."

"The Jedi were weak. They could not control this moon. They could not exterminate the Brynadul. Or the Sith. The cycle cannot be permitted to continue. To hold back, is to let them win."

"You sound like a Sith," Dathan suddenly chimed in, "You've been deceived by your own absolutist dogma. And I won't let you project your strife onto my world."

Yarrow grew more irritated at the accusations. He gritted his teeth, and telekinetically moved Serena away, at which point another cultists took the baby. "So be it," He raised his hands, and arcs of yellow lightning projected from his fingers in a display of power. He then drew his own crossgaurd saber at last, igniting a scarlet blade. Yarrow looked at Inanna, "If it is the child you want, you will repent and join us. Or die with your delusions, like your allies."

Cato ignited his saber and collided with Yarrow.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

While Cato and Dathan leaped into the fray, Inanna remained kneeling on the floor. Terror coursed through her, leaving her paralyzed. She couldn’t bear the thought of any harm coming to Serena.

It was the same sort of fear that had compelled her to drag Moonlighter into a closet when they infiltrated Carnage’s lair, only amplified to a deafening degree by the Dark. She had lived through the deaths of her husband and children once already. If it happened again, it would break her.

So she didn’t fight back. In fact, she tried to stop Cato, seizing hold of him with telekinesis and pulling him back toward her for his own protection.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato hadn't even noticed that Inanna remained motionless even as the fighting began. Yarrow was fast, and stronger than his size would imply. Even with him and Dathan engaging the master on either side, it required all of Cato's attention to stay effective. He kept close with his lightsaber, while Dathan slung all manner of spells and Force attacks. Yarrow could manage both, a few times almost drawing Cato into the line of fire between him and the armored villain, "Watch it!"

"Get out of my way!"

Yarrow chuckled hoarsely.

Then partway through the fighting, Cato felt a pull at his back. He looked to see Inanna actually trying to remove him from the fight telekinetically, "I-Inanna!" He yelled somewhere between confusion, sadness, and frustration. He fought back, but her desperate pulling put the knight off balance, "Stop! I-" Yarrow took advantage of the distraction, and closed in with dangerous speed. His lightsaber pierced Cato's abdomen, shutting him up.

"Rest now. You are saved." Yarrow sprang off of Cato's body to pursue Dathan, leaving him to be flung back by Inanna's telekinetic pull. Cato skidded across the floor, stopping in front of her. His gaze was wandering and hazy, the pain of his injury had settled in but not the reality of it.

Finally he found her, and looked up, "…Hey."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

A scream tore itself from her throat as Yarrow’s blade pierced Cato’s abdomen, his limp body floating toward her with no more resistance. Inanna wrapped her arms around him, her hand pressed to his wound. “No!” she wailed. “Please—I just wanted you to stop fighting. I can’t take it. Not again…”

But it was happening all over again. She was losing her lover, her child, and her planet, just like she’d lost Hal, the kids, and Lao-mon. She had tried to fight it, and lost everything. She hid her face against Cato’s shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. The guilt and shame of what she had done threatened to crush her beneath its weight.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Inanna," Cato grunted in pain, a faint smirk nonetheless showing on his face, "He's not gonna give you what you want. You know that." He spoke quietly, difficult to hear under the sounds of machinery, surging power, and the duel between Dathan and Yarrow. "He thinks our love is our weakness. He thinks Serena is our weakness. You really believe he's gonna just give her back if you play along with what he wants?"

Cato shook his head, "He's gonna take her away. And then he's gonna kill a few billion people and say it was the right thing to do." He reached up a hand to her cheek, "You are the best thing to ever happen to me, Inanna. I'm sorry about what I said earlier— I couldn't live with myself thinking that could be our last conversation. People fight, but none of that changes how much I love you."

"Please, go get our daughter back."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Though the sounds around them were nearly deafening, Cato’s voice was all she could hear. She clung to it like a life raft in the middle of a maelstrom, feeling the vibration of his voice as she buried her face in his neck.

His words hit hard, but they had to if they were going to pierce the veil which the Dark had pulled over her. She knew Yarrow was likely untrustworthy, but she hadn’t seen it. Or rather, she had turned her eyes away from the truth. The painful possibility of losing all over again was too great for her to accept that her only option was to fight against a nigh-insurmountable foe.

Inanna raised her head as Cato’s hand touched her wet cheek.

"You are the best thing to ever happen to me, Inanna. I'm sorry about what I said earlier—I couldn't live with myself thinking that could be our last conversation. People fight, but none of that changes how much I love you."

She opened her mouth to speak, but at first all that came out was a choked whimper. “I’m sorry too,” she rasped. “I love you so…” Her expression crumpling, she squeezed her eyes shut, fresh tears streaming as she pressed her lips to his brow, his cheek, his mouth.

"Please, go get our daughter back."

Nodding once, she shifted and gently laid him down on the floor. She tore the Star of Atrisia from around her neck and laid it over his wound, willing it to heal him. If she could undo what she had done, she would.

Then she was on her feet, facing Yarrow. Dathan had been keeping him at bay, but only barely. The supervillain’s armor was scorched and dented, trickles of red marring the metallic sheen here and there where he had begun to bleed within his suit.

Inanna blinked once to clear her blurry vision, took a deep breath, then seized hold of the framework of the room with the Force. Durasteel began to groan and whine as she exerted an increasing telekinetic pressure. The control room bent and warped inward; pieces of machinery from the consoles were flung toward Yarrow and his henchmen. The smaller ones were mere distractions, but larger parts could be deadly, especially at the armor-piercing speed and force with which she threw them.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

They kissed, and Inanna willed herself to stand up and face Yarrow. Before she did, she gave Cato the Star of Atrisia, which immediately began to try and fight the sapping of his life force. Cato gasped, clutching the relic tightly while his vision strained to focus on the action.

Dathan was running on steam, he refused to show weakness, but the damage was clear. Yarrow approached him slowly, "You fight in vain, sinner, in more ways than one," He shook his head, "Hubris and hypocrisy have been your undoing. Goodbye, and rest well."

The villain spat a chuckle, "That's ironic…" He said coldly. Then, he saw Inanna approach. Yarrow followed his gaze, and grimaced.

"Still you hold on. You only prove my point further." Yarrow saw the telekinetic attacks coming, and raised up his hands to defend. Her strength caught the rest off guard, striking many of his fellow cultists before they could react and overpowering those who did. "Impressive," Yarrow said, "But the darkness fuels you. Cheats your strength. You fall for its seduction like the rest." Still, it was clear, the sheer of amount of focus it took was putting even him on edge. Dathan raised a hand shot at Yarrow with a bolt of lightning.

In the back, Cato slowly rolled to his feet, pulling himself up on one of the consoles. He looked up and saw the chaos in full, but he turned to the rest of Yarrow's minions instead. Some were still trying to maintain function of the weapon, and after a quick scan, he retrieved his blaster from his coat. Cato shakily aimed, willing himself to steady, and fire at the main console. It went up in sparks, the attendant spraining away as it scorched his face. The whole system began to malfunction, and the beam outside flickered unstably.

Cato scoffed at his own success, then looked again and saw the minion still holding Serena. He was away from the main action, but still close enough to be a concern. If Inanna wasn't careful with her rage, Serena could still get hurt.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Cato’s words had had a calming effect on Inanna. Her attacks upon the henchman were precise and well-aimed, not a chaotic flinging of debris. Was she still mired in the Dark? Perhaps. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel now.

She gunned for it, throwing everything she had into this fight. The minions were mostly taken care of, so she concentrated on Yarrow. Dozens of pieces of equipment shot toward him from all angles, along with one of Inanna’s thrown lightsabers. Inanna followed closely behind the spinning blade, closing the distance between herself and the little green alien, adding her swing to the onslaught.

Unless the little chit could teleport, something was bound to hit him. He couldn't block or redirect them all.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Yarrow was resistant. His concentration could withstand much, but the combined onslaught eventually chipped through his defenses. Dathan's lightning caused the whole barrier to falter, shrapnel barraging Yarrow's small frame, followed by a lightsaber. He gasped, feeling his own life begin to dissipate. The realization that came with it.

Cato fired another shot at the main console, and between that and Inanna destroying many of the others, the station was beginning to implode. Yarrow was then hit by a piece of machinery that launched him backward, and revealing that he had been cut in two at the waist. His halves, and all the debris, shattered through the window, where they were caught up in the destabilizing energy inside. In a final pulse, the explosion incinerated everything its immediate vicinity, and began to rip the station apart. Those in the control room could literally see their wing being ripped from the rest of the ring. The floor slowly began to lift sideways.

"Inanna!" Cato exclaimed in pain. He pointed towards Serena, who was still in the hands of another cultist. He couldn't get to her himself, not in this state and certainly not with the entire place falling apart.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Yarrow was defeated. Inanna didn’t have much time to celebrate the victory, as she narrowly avoided getting vaporized by the exploding energy that blasted Yarrow’s two halves out the window. Air rushed in, whipping her white hair wildly.

"Inanna!"

Her thoughts had already gone to Cato and Serena. She turned toward the cultist, and found them frozen with fear and uncertainty. “Give me the baby,” she shouted over the wind, and when that didn’t work, “You stay here, you’ll die. Give her to me.”

The cultist handed over a screaming Serena, then turned and ran, seeking safety deeper in the station. Inanna hugged the baby to her chest, trying to comfort her as she ran to Cato’s side. “I got her.”

But now they had to get the hell out of there before the whole thing went into freefall. Cato was too badly wounded to carry Serena safely, so Inanna skinshifted a protective pouch, soft on the inside and durable on the outside, like what her mother had carried her in when she was little. She gently placed the newborn inside.

And not a moment too soon, for the control room tilted far enough to one side that Inanna lost her balance, falling on her ass. She reached for Cato, grabbing him as they both started to slide down the slope toward the shattered window. “Stay with me,” she pleaded, wrapping her arms around him as wings sprouted from her back, riding the wind as they toppled over the edge.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Even in this state, Cato couldn't help but watch Inanna's protective strategy with bewilderment. He'd never seen anything like that before, not from someone who looked so, well, human. Before he could bother to say anything, the floor snake deeper, causing them all to slide.

Cato reached out to grab Inanna's hand, letting her again take the lead as she sprouted wings and tried to get them out of there. It was a good thing she had a grip on him— He was feeling a bit woozy, and didn't have the strength to hold on in midair. They spilled out of the careening station, and not long after they had put some distance between them, both parts fully exploded in the air. A shockwave shook the surroundings, shattering nearby windows and sending debris scattering across. Still, better than what would have happened if the whole thing had actually made impact.

Dathan was nowhere to be seen. Cato realized it, but was too tired to think about it.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna swooped down to the street outside Cato’s apartment and carried him inside. Ascending the stairs two steps at a time, she paused for a moment to stare at what remained of the wall she had crashed through. It hit her then that the entire event—from Yarrow’s first appearance in the building to the destruction of the station—had occurred within the span of no more than a couple hours at the most.

The lock on their door was busted, but Gurt had watched over it, keeping their belongings safe. Inanna laid Cato on the bed and tore open his shirt. The lightsaber wound in his gut was hideously charred, the skin around it red and puckered. It had made a clean exit out of his back, passing through major organs along the way. He would die without treatment. Hell, he would probably die even with treatment, given the quality of medical care at the average Narsh hospital.

The Star. She wasn’t a healer. Neither was Cato, yet once upon a time he had sealed a hole in her chest with the help of the artifact. That wound had been no less deadly. His physiology might not have been as malleable as hers, but… Cais ned’jin, what else could she do but try?

She clutched at her head, taking a deep, shaky breath. Serena squirmed in her belly. “It’s okay,” she soothed. Reaching into her pouch, she laid the mewling babe against Cato’s bare chest. “I’m going to make this right.” Taking the Star from him, she laid her other hand over his wound. “Sorry Cato, this is going to hurt…”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Inanna quickly got Cato back home, opting to try and save him from death herself. She carried him through their mess of a home, shockingly not ransacked in the chaos that had ensued since they left. Further props to Gurt as the best landlord on Nar Shaddaa.

Thanks to a combination of his naturally wisecracking attitude, and a semi-delirious state brought about by a failing body, Cato couldn't help but snort as Inanna threw him onto the bed and ripped open his shirt, "Don't think now's really the time…" He muttered. She retrieved Serena from her makeshift pouch and place her on Cato's chest, "Oh." He sounded surprised, as if he had forgotten there was a whole baby with them.

“Sorry Cato, this is going to hurt…”

Cato blinked slowly, "…Are you sure putting a baby on me was the right caaaa—" The sudden, and steadily amplifying pain slurred his speech. The star could help mend his injury, but it didn't exactly dull the process. He held Serena tight, trying not to jerk about or clutch too harshly, instead focusing on her as a way to ground himself.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

The pain was accompanied by an agonizing itch, the sensation made all the more unbearable by being impossible to relieve. Serena’s eyes were wide open as she watched her father writhe. The sight of him suffering sent a bolt of renewed fury through Inanna. Yarrow’s death wasn’t enough; she hoped he was being tormented in a particular hellish part of the Netherworld right now. His surviving followers, she longed to hunt down herself and—

The Star stopped working, its light fading. It was her fault, she knew. She was too far gone into the Dark for it to tolerate. “Please,” she begged it. “If not for me, for him.” She pressed Serena’s tiny hand against the blue and white gem. “For her…”

Still nothing. Inanna slumped. Her dark side had always been with her, and always would be. It was part of who she was. She could stop it from ruling over her by finding balance and making peace with herself, but such a process could take a lifetime. Or so she believed. As she looked upon father and daughter, the last of her anger and hate for the ones who did this drained away. What was left was love. An unselfish love, determined to ensure that Serena didn’t become an orphan. That Cato got to see her grow up.

The Star sparked to life in her hand, completing the task she asked of it. Then it fell silent.

---

Three days later...

“I know, I know,” Inanna murmured as she wrapped a whining Serena in a towel. “That was so mean of me, taking you out of that nice warm bath before you could fall asleep and drown in two inches of water. You were wet and naked and cold for three whole seconds! Absolutely unforgivable.”

Once she was dry and swaddled and held close to her mother’s heart, the newborn’s incensed cries faded. Clinging to Inanna’s chest, Serena looked up at her, mouth twitching in a toothless smile.

“Oh, now you’re being sweet,” Inanna cooed, nuzzling the tuft of soft black hair on the baby’s head. “Mmmm, and you smell sweet too. Okay, let’s get you dressed and then we can go see if Daddy’s awake yet.”

Cato had fallen into a coma after she used the Star to heal him—well, maybe coma was too strong a word. It was certainly a deep sleep, perhaps comparable to a hibernation trance. Days had passed, and he still hadn’t woken up. She hoped it was just part of the recovery process, and not a sign that something was wrong. If it was... Well, she didn't know what she would do.

Inanna dressed Serena in her new onesie then crept into the bedroom. It was dark, but she hesitated to turn on the lights, some part of her dreading the sight of him lying there motionless.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato could have sworn he dreamt over these last few days and nights. But when he awoke with a startle, he couldn't remember any of it. The darkness bored a dreadful pit in his stomach, but he blinked his long dormant eyes into function, and they adjusting steadily to the shadows. It was his room. The door was closed, and the little window up above the bed was curtained over. An ache, one that he could have sworn he felt all throughout his slumber, crept across his abdomen. He touched at it, only to find it bandaged.

Coherent thought suddenly erupted back into his mind: his family. Cato was midway through pushing himself up in bed when the lights suddenly came on. He blinked several more times, until he could recognize what he was looking for. "…Morning," He replied in classic (if more hoarsely) Cato fashion, "I think."

"How are my girls doing?" His arms wobbled under his own weight, even while just laying upright on a bed. Cato still wasn't exactly at full strength. He continued with his light demeanor, but there was a waver in his voice of real concern. Remembering what happened, especially toward the end, hurt his head.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

The lights came on, and for a moment all Inanna could do was stare. Cato was awake and sitting up in bed. He blinked his eyes and spoke, a little confused but glad to see them.

Serena gave an excited shriek, kicking her little legs. Inanna took a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, crossed the room and attacked Cato with loving kisses. Serena reached for her father with grasping hands. Inanna held her between them, nestled in her parents' embrace.

It was some time before she could even speak. “We’re fine,” she sputtered. “Serena wasn’t hurt. She’s clean now, too. Oh Cato, I was so scared you wouldn’t wake up…” She trailed off, hiding her face in his neck and pressing her lips to his pulse.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato sputtered a quiet laugh seeing Serena's glee, and leaned forward to exchange kisses with Inanna. His fingers wove through her hair, clutching for a love that had come so precipitously close to dying with him. Those few days of slumber suddenly felt like an eternity, and now that he had crossed back through it to find Inanna and Serena again, he refused to let go.

"It's okay. Thank god you're okay," He held them close, his voice croaking with emotion, "I'm not going anywhere." They remained like that for a long while, before he spoke again, "So… they're gone? What about… Dathan?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Dathan admittedly hadn’t even crossed her mind. “I don’t know,” she replied. “Either he died in the explosion, or he somehow got out. He did have a jetpack…” Assuming it wasn’t damaged or destroyed in the fight against Yarrow. “We could check the news reports...

“What about you?” With a light touch, she laid her hand over his bandaged wound. “Any pain or… other things to worry about?”

Cato Harth​