Corellia

[Moon Knight]

Even though he'd known Kirlocca for some time, Kandor had trouble reading him. There seemed to be something on the jetii's mind that he wasn't saying, or maybe some uncertainty.

 

Fett looked at his wife and felt no uncertainty at all. They had definitely been through a lot since they'd first had that probing conversation aboard the Enigma when they'd first joined the Augury. They had definitely seen each other through horrendous trials, from Mirdala's captivity with the Thalassian slavers to his RAGE-induced mental illness. The road had definitely been bumpy at times, but they'd learned important lessons as they'd traveled down it and everything had, in its own way and in its own time, brought them closer together. On Hapes they'd grown so much closer and proved to each other how relationally and operationally compatible they were in ways deeper than they had ever before. And there were definitely still hard battles to be fought against powerful enemies they'd encountered before; Judyc Viba, Fieyr, and their recently-discovered employer, Ab'ki.

 

But whatever happened, they would definitely be ready for it. It was quite possible that every move would they made would have to be perfect or close to it in order to come out on top. But they operated well under pressure. They were some of the best in the oyu'baat at what they did, and so were those that were in this with them.

 

Fett knew that, in the same way, Kirlocca could handle his own priorities. "Then it's settled," he said.

 

---------------------

 

Over the next hour the stew finished and they ate a hearty Mandalorian meal. As they did so, the news came in about what had happened on Coruscant, the source of the disturbance Kirlocca and Mirdala had felt through the Force. It turned out that three skyscrapers had been destroyed in some sort of terrorist attack. Some part of Fett wished he was there to intervene, see if he could bring the perpetrators in, but he couldn't be everywhere and he had come to accept that. He was too far away to rush there now, even if he didn't have other things to worry about.

 

The Justice arrived around the time they were finishing, and Kandor went out to check on the ship and 2277 for the first time since he and Mirdala had left the Enigma together on the T'ad Kebbur.

 

"Congratulations on your marriage, Master," the beskar'ad said from his usual station aboard the ship as Fett boarded.

 

"I thought you didn't approve, burc'ya," Kandor answered mildly, figuring that Flirt had been quite unable to keep herself from transmitting the news to the Justice as soon as she'd learned it.

 

2277 regarded him. "I have observed an out-of-combat efficiency increase you have gained due to the individual strengths Mistress Ad'Goran has that you lack, in such times that I am unavailable to provide assistance for you," he answered. "Not to mention the fact that she is able to escort you in battle."

 

"Strictly practical," Fett said dryly.

 

"However," the droid amended. "I have also noticed that you have struggled in some of your solo battles lately. Both Viba and the GenoHaradan agent on Hapes were able to elude you in individual combat. Even though you won your rematch against the latter, this trend is most distressing. I am forced to recommend that you increase your training regimen and avoid entering battle without Ad'Goran until you correct this emerging issue."

 

Kandor raised his eyebrows. "If you insist," he said.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

"Don't worry twenty-two," Mirdala laughed as she leaned against the doorway leading into the cargo area at the back of the ship. "I don't plan on letting him out of my sight for a fair bit. As she walked forward, she slightly favored her right ankle. "If we're being honest, I haven't had that much success in my own solo outings either." She eased herself onto the bench as Vi'ika trotted up and rested her head wearily in Mirdala's lap.

 

Scratching her hunt-partner behind the ears with both of her hand, the Mandalorian woman looked down at the sand hound. "I've burnt you out pretty heavily over these last few days, haven't I?" The canine only responded with a very heavy sigh. "Go get some rest yourself. We'll be fine. It's nearly impossible to get through a beskar-plated flying brick." Another sigh and the black-furred hound rose, licked Mirdala's cheek and trotted off towards the cabins with a soft whmph to Kandor that seemed to indicate Mirdala was his to look out for now.

 

Shaking her head, Mirdala turned back to Kandor. "I know it was hard just how much to let Kirlocca in on things without completely blinding him to what he was walking into. I am truly lucky that you count him as your friend. I don't know that I would have trusted any of the others honestly. He doesn't seem to underestimate or assume he knows me quite like the others did. Things are so closely tied between my Force-abilities and my empathic, that while the techniques to access them are similar, they are also ever so slightly different at the same time."

 

For a moment she regarded him, her mind returning to the mystery of how he'd been able to reach her despite the Force-coma. "I'm not sure I've been totally honest with you about how the empathic abilities work...though it was unintentional, or maybe a fluke, or has something to do with you being Moon Knight...or I don't know..."

 

She trailed off, looking down at her hands for a moment to collect her thoughts before she looked back up at him. "You shouldn't have been able to get through to me the way you did. Everything that I've ever experienced, learned, or innately known about how all of this," she gestured to all of her," is supposed to work says that, at best Te'Verd, maybe Vy'ika and Rhys, would have been the only ones with a hope of bringing me out of it. I could feel them, but I could sense you. And you're not a Force User."

 

She waved her hand dismissively, "Yes, I know that the 'Force flows through all things' and all of that, but under that logic, it could have been anyone. But it wasn't. It was you."

 

"Now, about the part where I might not have been completely honest..." She took a deep breath. "When Eris and I were inside your mind, I was able to connect with you empathically as well, but only that once. Maybe it was because I was fully utilizing both of my abilities through her help. I don't know. Do you think your abilities as Moon Knight could be somehow connected to the Force or maybe another, similar energy? Shab, does it really even, matter?"

 

Kandor sat down beside her, turned her face to his, and kissed her, effectively halting her rambling. She relaxed against him as her arms encircled the back of his neck and she kissed him back.

 

"You could have done that about thirty seconds ago and saved me all of the babbling like an idiot," she smiled up at him as the parted a few seconds later. "What do you make of all this? Ab'ki, the empathic thing, everything?"

[Moon Knight]

Kandor gave her a thoughtful look. "Sometimes I can feel you, too," he said, taking one of his hands off of her waist to hover two fingers near his temple. "It's like a sort of mental impression, lighting up your signature left on my mirshe. But it was there even before the brain dive. I can only speculate as to how it got there, but I do believe that the Moon Knight powers are Force-related. Maybe in some way the Force lingers around me, or at least affects me in a different way than most people." His voice made it clear he was grasping at straws and knew it.

 

He smiled. "Or maybe I just imagine all of it," he added with a shrug. "The important thing is that, whatever happened in there, you're on the way back to full strength again."

 

His eyes drifted toward the front of the ship. "As for Ab'ki... like TeVerd said, a name is a start. Our enemies are starting to materialize, which means we're no longer shooting at phantoms," Kandor continued before looking back down into Mirdala's jade eyes. "But for you this has been going on for almost a decade. It must be a relief that the clues the team needs to put an end to this are finally starting to emerge, like an end to this is about to come over the horizon."

 

Taking her hand in his, he studied her face as though trying to memorize it. "I'm glad you felt ready to say the vows, cyar'ika," he said, lowering his voice a bit and bringing his face close to hers. "A few years ago I would have said I'd be a lone wolf for life. Might have even convinced myself I never wanted anything else. But now I can't imagine taking another step without you. Manda help the man, woman, or other being that tries to come between us now... Ab'ki included."

[Aira Cadan]

I smiled as Dashel named Apollo as an official ambassador to the Jedi Order. It was the perfect follow-up to what Apollo was already thinking. I was also glad that some other Jedi were going to pick up the follow up with the Palawan system. It was good that we weren't going to let this drop, but I knew the Force was calling Dashel and I on.

 

"Thank you, Master Illioni," I said warmly. "Until next time." We boarded the Scratch, waving goodbye to Dash as the ramp raised. Apollo had already said his goodbyes to his sister, and we were ready to be off. But before we could lift off, the hangar bay filled up with the people of the crew, all of them cheering, a final salute and goodbye...

[Wookiee Jedi]

After dinner was all said and done, Fett and Mirdala got up and left the safe house leaving Kirlocca unattended. He remained seated at the table for a good two minutes before he realized that the two were not in a hurry to get back, so he stop dup and took his dishes to the sink and left them after allowing for water to soak on them. He then moved himself to the lavatory to relieve himself. As he sat he allowed then for his mind to wander to the events that had transpired. It was a wild turn of events and it left a few questions within his own mind. Clearly he could feel his ties to the Jedi Order loosening, yet he felt like deep down it was more of his own self becoming more concrete. He continued to ponder about things and remained in deep thought for a good ten minutes before he was finished with the lavatory and walked out to check up on the Holonet, which he realized he had not seen anything from it since his exile.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Mirdala considered him for a long moment and he could almost see her mind at work behind those jade eyes of hers. "Your abilities being connected to the Force might make sense," she agreed. "The spice I was on at the time augmented whatever my abilities were and I guess my faith in you did the rest."

 

She settled against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I'm not sure I want to think about how things would have played out for either of us had we both not returned to Enigma when we had. I know I feel stronger and more sure with you at my side. To be honest, I kind of caught myself by surprise with the whole thing…” Tilting her head up to look at him, she smiled. “That or I finally decided to trust my heart to lead instead of this over-active mind of mine.”

 

Several moments of comfortable silence passed between them as they took the time to savor a quiet moment alone together since being banned from the Hapan system.

 

“Kandor?” Mirdala asked, shifting in his arms to face him as she sat up. “I know your father, Kelborn, has passed,”

there was a slight hesitation as she considered how best to bring up the subject, knowing how much he didn't like digging up his past, “but is there anyone, you'd want to tell? Aunts, uncles, friends? I mean, once Laesha knows she’ll want to throw another family party...mainly with the ones you've met, maybe Briia and her family since they're on-world. I know you're not especially keen on the larger family gatherings, but it's part of at least our Concordi and Shogunite traditions. She’ll ask…”

[Moon Knight]

"Wouldn't tell Kelborn even if he was still alive," Kandor answered, his expression hardening for a moment as he stared straight ahead. He thought back to all the individuals he had worked with over his career. There were perhaps one or two decent individuals in the whole Black Sun, but he had never gone beyond strictly professional with any of them. It had been easier to find good people in the Augury and CoreSec, and there had been some upright soldiers there. In the Augury he would say he'd made strides in being willing to trust a few individuals and even call them his friends, but Darkfire had fallen a long way since then and Kirlocca was already in the know. If he was being entirely honest, the longest-term, closest partners he'd had were his beskar'ade.

 

Truth be told, the more people that knew beyond their trusted circle, the more likely it was that someone would try to use it against him, and it could lead to Mirdala getting hurt. The galaxy was not a safe place. Even now Ab'ki was hunting the lot of them just for their connection with Mirdala, and Fett had made enemies of even greater dar'jetiise, although he had finally outlasted most of them.

 

His face softened again and he looked back down at his wife. She hadn't meant to send him down that line of thought. "I would be happy to celebrate with the aliit," he said. "I don't want to be a stranger to them. And what we've got... well, it doesn't happen every day."

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

"Family only then,” she agreed kissing him once more, before she pulled back, a mischievous look on her face. “And I certainly hope not. How many other Force-Using-Empathic people have Moon Knight or you ever had in their lives?” She playfully shoved him before pulling him back towards her by his flak jacket, kissing him passionately.

 

After a few lingering moments she drew back, casting a glance past Kandor to the droid that was casually going through his post flight checks. “Would you please check and make sure Kirlocca gets settled in okay?”

 

“As you wish, Constable,” 2277 dutifully responded and began heading for the access ramp.

 

“Wait one.” Mirdala called a half second later as she reached for Kandor’s utility belt, her fingers easily finding what she sought and closed around it. Deftly she withdrew the slicer droid from her pouch and tossed it at Twenty-Two who easily caught it. “Take Flirt with you.”

 

The droid merely inclined his head and descended down the ramp, sealing it behind him.

 

As soon as the ramp was in place, Mirdala used her implant’s interface with the Justice to seal it and lock out 2277’s access across all but the emergency channels.

 

“What?” she asked at the look Kandor was giving her.

 

“Nothing,” he remarked with a shake of his head.

 

“Thought not,” she smiled as she unzipped the flak jacket, slipping it and the bulk of Kandor's armor over his head and letting it drop with a muffled clang to the decking. Bringing him with her as she leaned back, she took hold of one of his hands and guided it along her side and under the hem of her sweater as her lips met his again.

[Moon Knight]

Kandor kissed her back, then pulled Mirdala's sweater off over her head, trying to be gentle with her still-healing shoulder. They started to move towards the main cabin as he released his mag-seals, letting his gauntlets and remaining armor plates fall to the deck, their lips scarcely parting.

 

Soon they reached the bed, leaving behind a trail of discarded articles of clothing...

 

--------------

 

2277 entered the safehouse and found Kirlocca watching a Holonet broadcast. "Greetings, Master Kirlocca," the beskar'ad said. He almost looked a bit out of his element here. He spent so much time seated in the same place aboard the Justice that he scarcely had use for a body at all except as a convenient case for his vital systems. "I am 2277, Master Fett's finder and information analyst. Fett and Mistress Ad'Goran are quite indisposed at the moment, and sent me to inform you that you are welcome to your choice of bedrooms and other facilities.

 

"I have full access to all safehouse systems, so if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask."

 

The droid found a place to sit and resumed his usual standby tasks that he was always performing for Fett when not supporting him directly -- scanning the Holonet, searching through limitless streams of data for anything that might be actionable intelligence, news related to Fett and his current and past employers and contacts, and generally anything that his Master might find useful. He noticed that there were still some dirty dishes laying out from dinner which the humans had failed to put away, and a protocol droid might have taken it upon himself to clean them up, but such tasks were beneath 2277.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca turned his head to acknowledge 2277, a droid of which the Jedi Master had never seen before. Flirt on the other hand Kirlocca had interacted with before. He returned his head back to the Holonet broadcast, which was featuring an article for the new Imperial Remnant, and other systems not happy with the Galactic Alliance. It was a becoming a new trend within the galaxy, one that he wasn't sure was going to end well. There were ads for the new Golden Link Casino on the side, which drew the Wookiees eyes as it was openly sponsored by Black Sun, which showed how far things have slid. If a crime syndicate could openly support an ad on the Holonet, it meant that the Galactic Alliance was getting spread too far and CoreSec was ailing, which was something he had always assumed would eventually happen. When the Galactic Alliance was formed, it spelled bad news. It had potential, but the grounds were not built upon anything solid.

 

Deciding that his exile served him well in not being connected to everything was a good thing, he shut down the Holonet and moved himself to a side room and removed his robe and sat down in the middle of the room. Sleep would not come to him, as the busyness of Coronet was not a favorite thing of his. So instead he would sit and meditate for the night. It would serve him as a healing trance to get his body up to normal par, which it had not been in a while, and it would allow for him to explore the questions he was having within the Force. Maybe he would commune with Kitt and Mari within the Force to get some guidance...

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

It was the small hours of the morning when Mirdala woke to an unusual sense of quiet, that, while not completely unsettling, disoriented her enough to cause her body to tense as she lay on her side with Kandor's arms wrapped protectively around her. After months of travel across the galaxy, it was the total absence of the micro-vibrations of a ship's hull, the sound of whatever planetary outside environment she'd been in, that had stirred her from sleeping through the night. Cocooned as they were within the powered-down Justice, none of the usual outside sounds made it through the hull leaving an absolute stillness that Mirdala hadn't experienced in a long while.

 

Even beside her, she could feel the steady, yet silent, rise and fall of Kandor's chest against her back and felt his breath on the back of her neck. Turning slowly onto her other side so she didn't wake him, Mirdala gazed at his still-sleeping form and smiled. It had been a long road for both of them, especially her, to come to this moment.

 

Her mind drifted back to the first time he'd kissed her right after getting out of the hospital after her ordeal with the slavers. While it hadn't been the smartest decision on his part, at that time, she was glad that he'd been willing to take the risk. He'd been so closed-off and distant with anyone else she'd seen him around, it had surprised her that he would be open to any possibility of a future with her. To be honest, she wasn't even sure of what she'd wanted at the time. It hadn't been until they'd gone off to Myrkr that she'd been able to open up to him even slightly about what had happened to her while in the slaver's care.

 

Our first kiss was on that same bench... she thought wryly, as it now seemed awfully fitting that their first excursion down this particular road should start there. What surprised her most was that, at this moment at least, those demons of the past couldn't touch her. She hadn't pushed him away like she had on Hapes before 2277 had interrupted their sparring session that had headed down a totally different and unexpected road, one that she hadn't been ready for. In fact, somewhere she'd found the confidence to do just the opposite, and that moment was enough to show her that she'd shattered the stranglehold that Lura and his demons had been allowed to keep on her for far too long.

 

When she'd first met Kandor, never in any iteration could she have imagined she'd end up where she had tonight. Whatever trials, obstacles, and dramas they'd both had to endure just to wind up together were worth it in her eyes. She was just sorry it had taken her so long to see what was waiting for her if only she'd been willing to ask sooner. He'd nearly lost her so many times, but, finally, it seemed, she'd found herself and in so doing could finally declare to the galaxy what she wanted.

 

They had a lot of work ahead of them both, but, as he'd so often said to her, the two of them were strongest when they were together.

[Moon Knight]

The next two weeks were on the slow side for Kandor, but for once he didn't mind the downtime. Mirdala and Kirlocca spent a lot of time during the days doing their Force training, and Kandor didn't want to hover over them while they were doing that, but he had several other things to do to occupy his time, doing as much as he could in preparation for the challenges ahead of them that he could anticipate.

 

For one, he hit his training regimen a bit harder, as per 2277's suggestion. He always preferred to come out of downtime stronger and sharper than he had been at the start, so he renewed his dedication to working on as many of his skills as he could manage. He would spend hours a day between workouts in the weight room, physical training in blade and hand-to-hand combat against beskar'ade, and long sessions at the nearby shooting range to hone his marksmanship. He had built up a tremendous endurance and discipline over the years, and being able to continue to improve himself even as he slowly exhausted his energy reserves was one of the things that gave him his competitive edge, the quality that enabled him to fight so many beings with as much or more physical potential than he had and consistently come out on top. In order to take on the challenges he had in the past and would no doubt going forward, he had to be almost more than human.

 

But even he couldn't train around the clock, and it wasn't the only thing that he could prep. During his fight with Judyc Viba on the Smuggler's Moon, he'd taken the Kyrtsad beroya's energy shield. He started working with the technology, teaching himself how to wield it in combat not only as something he could potentially use in some situations going forward, but also in order to help him anticipate Viba's combat style should they meet again. In order to prepare himself for a match against Ab'ki, he spent time refining the skillset he'd developed for taking down dar'jetiise after his loss to Faust on Coruscant. He practiced with his sonic weapons, he worked on the program module he'd integrated into his verpine shattergun and drilled his accuracy with it, and he did so all the while rehearsing the technique he'd picked up on how to encrypt his thoughts from Force users by overlaying his surface thoughts with a repeating phrase. He did not know how best to prepare for a fight against Fieyr, having never found himself in that situation before, but he knew that Fieyr had been trained alongside Mirdala for some time, and so knew some of his fundamentals.

 

Each of those fights was potentially far off or weren't even going to happen at all, as far as he knew, but he had to be prepared. Even farther ahead was the establishment of the organization that was still just a concept to him, but he spoke with Mirdala and she set up a meeting for him with Soresh Delavvo, who worked for CorSec and had a good network of other contacts through them.

 

The meeting didn't really start like Fett had expected. He'd known that Soresh and Mirdala had been close friends growing up, and Soresh immediately asked after her when they sat down. As they talked a bit, Kandor quickly arrived at the conclusion that Soresh had at least at one point had feelings beyond friendship for her, but had never really come out with it. Now he implored Fett to take care of Mirdala, apparently glad at least that she was happy.

 

Kandor didn't particularly know how to feel about the interaction. He had no reason to dislike Soresh, and the younger man had been extremely accommodating, having given the team access to his steading on Concord Dawn for use as a base of operations for their investigation while he was offworld; he'd even been willing to let TeVerd bury the bodies of Jorbe's old team members on those grounds. So he simply thanked Soresh for his honesty as the foundation of their potential professional relationship going forward and transitioned their talk into his ideas for the organization.

 

Over the next couple hours Soresh helped him explore the idea, as well as what sort of interaction might be able to take place between it and CorSec. By the end of the conversation, they had a loose agreement that would need to be explore more later as things materialized, but a good start. CorSec would pitch leads his way from time to time and even keep an eye out for personnel that would be a good match for Fett's organization, and in return Fett would take action on situations that needed resolving but fell beyond CorSec's jurisdiction, as they had need.

 

Overall it was a good arrangement, and Fett would use it as a template as he went into future talks with other potential allies like CoreSec and the Journeyman Protectors.

 

But all that was still far off. His training and the time he got to spend with his wife over these weeks continued to strengthen him physically and mentally, and were the critical elements that would increase their odds of seeing those days.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca finally got up and stopped his meditation after a good twelve hours and walked out into the main room of the safe house and awaited for Mirdala to arrive back in. Upon her coming in, he spoke, but he had already set the room up for a sparing match of sorts. There would be no way she wouldn't understand what was going on.

 

<< I want to do some hand to hand combat sparring with you. It will help you learn how to use the Force while in combat, along with a few major techniques that could save your life. >>

 

Kirlocca automatically stood up and prepare himself for his stance in Wrruushi, which is was well versed in.

 

<< You are going to spar with me, but I ant for you to reach out with your feelings. Allow for the Force to tell you what my moves will be. The Force will give you some precognition and allow for you to anticipate my moves before I strike. You will also have to use the Force to aid your movements, especially with me not holding back any of my strength. >>

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Mirdala nodded at him as she donned her helmet and let herself slip more fully into the Force and empathic streams. They'd sparred a bit before, though nothing quite full-speed or like what she sensed he had in mind. Two weeks into her training with Kirlocca and her body fully healed from her fall on Hoth, now seemed as good a time as any to truly put to the test all that she'd learned.

 

It hadn't surprised her all that much that fighting with Kirlocca very much reminded her of her sparring matches with TeVerd, Hwulf, and Carid, the latter two being every bit as large in height and build as the Wookiee, if not larger. She ignored the pang in her heart at the memory of the two that had passed but instead drew on her memories of them and sense within the Manda. Both men had been Seekers before her, but as of yet, hadn't rested long enough to join their brothers and sisters in within the ghosts that now guided her, or were trusting in the knowledge and lessons they'd passed on to their niece while living. Much of that knowledge had centered around using her abilities, both empathic and through the Force (the latter to a lesser degree) to compensate for her size disadvantage.

 

Of course, she hadn't shared any of this with Kirlocca, still being very guarded about her past despite all he'd seen and now knew of her.

 

"In other words," she said, her voice coming through the filtered com as she removed the various regular and hidden weapons from her kit, including her besk'ar kukris and collapsable staff, "Don't hold back..."

 

Doesn't have to be elegant, TeVerd's voice echoed in her head, a memory of what he'd so often told her about any combat set she was learning. It just has to get the job done.

 

Another deep breath and she focused once more on feeling her way through the Force and raised her mental defenses and empathic static. The empathic mental shield made her presence harder to detect, even a bit slippery, but it was another rush altogether as she was now connecting herself to the Force stronger than ever before.

 

She well knew that the Force, or her "other sense" as she'd grown up calling it, is what had helped her best TeVerd or one of the others on a rare occasion. Calling on the Force she drew it towards her before darting forward to close with Kirlocca, just barely being missed by his opening strike as she bent backward and used the momentum to spin around behind him, the Force calling to her not quite in time for his return strike to catch her shoulder as she jumped backwards to avoid it.

 

While similar in size to those she'd grown up fighting, she was beginning to understand it was something else entirely to deal with a Jedi Master versus sparring with a battle-hardened Seeker. For one thing, he was quicker. Much quicker.

 

He also wasn't kidding about pulling his punches. Behind her helmet, she smiled and closed with him again happily meeting this challenge.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca could tell from Mirdala's first moves that she beginning to feel out what she would actually need to do. There was much about her that was still a mystery to him, as she did not open up as much as Fett. Although, the Wookiee also understood that Fett also had things that were not shared with him. But that could be said about anyone, as Kirlocca himself still had things that no one knew about with he exception of Mari and Kitt, two Jedi whom the Jedi Master had built a strong bond with. Mari was his master, but she had passed on with the Force. Kitt remained within the Force, although Kirlocca could not tell if he was alive or dead. Knowing Kitt, the mystery of him was good enough for the galaxy to know.

 

Mirdala had kept her focus about her during the spar, which was good, as it meant her mind was much sharper then any Jedi and could maintain what she would need for any fight. It was a good sign, one that Kirlocca took great pride in for some strange reason. As she maneuvered around him, the Wookiee used his size, which was smaller then most Wookiees, to drop and spin, throwing a kick. At least, that's what he wanted to project into the Force. As he neared his backwards kick on Mirdala's side, he stopped himself fully and gave her a horse kick at her knees. If she wasn't wearing her armor, the blow could end up shattering her knee caps. It was a move designed to teach her more about the Force.

 

<< Sense the movements, but also sense the opponent.They tell two different things. Also, speed up your movements with the Force. Allow for it to aid you where it can. >>

 

Kirlocca then moved rather quickly without warning towards her, allowing for his body to tower her as he threw jab after jab, punch after punch, and kick after kick. He needed to make sure she could handle the speed, the wear and tear, and the feeling of being overpowered the entire time. Those would be key elements to overcome without the Force, as the Force could provide her no such comfort. She needs to prove her drive and remain calm. Only then would the Force become a greater aid to her in the sparring match.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Listening to the Force, Mirdala fell for the feint until it was almost too late to react, her hand shooting out and instinctively projecting a point-of-impact Force deflection shield to protect her knees from taking the impact dead-on as her husband translated his reinforcement of the lesson. As Kirlocca's foot impacted the shield, it would feel as though he'd just kicked a solid wall of beskar.

 

"The Force can be manipulated to project a false reality, so don't fully devote your sole focus to one aspect," she intoned outwardly processing her interpretation as she and the Wookiee disengaged for the moment. "Similar to how I was taught to fight empathically. The mental battle isn't the only front to fight, be prepared for any combination of attacks. If your focus is too narrow, you lose." Her helmet turned to meet Kandor's eyes as he stood off to the side observing and offering his help as a translator for her latest teacher.

 

She'd just barely finished the sentence when Kirlocca took advantage of her distraction, closing with her rapidly as she fell quickly into the Force's guidance to avoid the blows and ramp up her own speed as he'd indicated, her movements becoming a blur as she shifted and moved about meeting him blow for blow. To her own surprise, despite the adrenaline rush that usually accompanied combat, she found she felt calmer and more focused.

 

As they continued to fight, Mirdala called on some of the skills she'd learned from TeVerd and the other Seeker ghosts. It was a tricky balancing act to ramp up her own empathic static enough in an attempt to disrupt Kirlocca's focus while maintaining her own within the Force, but somehow she managed it. While it wouldn't have nearly the same effect as it would against someone like Fieyr, the buzzing was often unfamiliar enough to most Force Users that it caught them off guard. Seekers would utilize those precious seconds of disorientation to press or create any sort of advantage that would lead to the downfall of their target Force User.

 

In this case, however, she understood the goal was to test skill set, not severely hurt the Wookiee, so she backed off after it had done its job and she'd been able to get some additional hits in. Those were skills better tested with her brothers and father, but the experiment had served its purpose in helping her connect the two skills.

 

The Seeker Ghosts had apparently decided that it was a good time to put her through the paces of their training as well and so she'd wound up with a few sleepless nights (though they weren't always the cause.) Luckily she'd found that some of the meditations Kirlocca had been teaching her helped to rejuvenate and revitalize her in place of the lost hours of sleep.

 

She'd also noticed that she and Kirlocca were able to spar for longer and longer amounts of time before fatigue set in, so her own already considerable stamina continued to be augmented with her growing connection to the mystical Force. They'd already been going at it for about a couple of hours non-stop since breakfast that morning and she was only just now starting to feel tired from the constant mental and physical drain that these sessions tested her on.

[Moon Knight]

Kandor had been happy to sit in on the fight and translate when asked. Although he had largely left Kirlocca and Mirdala alone for most of their Force training so as not to distract them, he had a vested interest in the results, having encouraged Mirdala to take this road.

 

Now he was rather pleased to see how she was handling Kirlocca's attacks. The Wookiee was a powerful warrior, well known even among the jetiise for that. A master of the jetii'kad and hand-to-hand, Kirlocca had even created his own fighting style. Kandor would not bet on himself in a real fight against Kirlocca if he did not have all of his equipment which had had carefully optimized over decades for such fights. But now he watched Mirdala, even with the additional height and reach disadvantage, call on her training and the Force in tandem and stand her ground. She was faster, calmer, and more certain than he'd ever seen her.

 

Her powers were so much more than the liability she'd treated them as before. Mirdala had always been more than capable. She'd been trained by the very best, and had beaten Darth Hask as a teenager. As she got on top of her Force and Seeker training, she would truly become a force to be reckoned with. With Fett also again at the top of his game, there was little in the oyu'baat that would be able to stand against the two of them together.

 

Good thing, too. Some of the most dangerous demagolkase in the oyu'baat were going to try.

[Tares Vortex]

He had finally lost count. Was it the fifth anniversary? The tenth? Had it really been a decade already? Perhaps even longer?

“Mr. Vortex, I have gone ahead and uploaded the speech to your datapad.”

He would have to lookup the date in order to know for sure. If wouldn't go over well if he got that bit of information wrong.

“Is there anything else Mr. Vortex?”

He had been called many things over the years: Tares, Padawan Vortex, Master Vortex. ‘Mr. Vortex’ still seemed too strange to get used to.

“No, T-1B8. That will be all.”

The silver protocol droid standing in front of the desk quickly moved away with a flutter of fading steps. Sitting on the other side of the desk, Tares kept his eyes glued to the holographic screen that curved around his upper half. The screen was empty, except for a rotating logo that boldly displayed the Solaris Enterprises brand. Something about how the lines morphed as the logo rotated kept Tares’s attention while he sat.

He used to be better than this. Keeping his mind focused and on point had been easy in the past. He hadn’t been so easily distracted since being a padawan. Focus on the Force. Meditate on the task. These steps will keep you on track.

That lesson seemed old enough to be a questionable memory at this point. The sort of memory that questioned its own existence. Did it happen? Was it just a dream?

Things had changed since those days. Enough time had passed for the galaxy itself to turn on end. A new government. A new life. Probably even a new Order. He knew they were still around. He had received the message through the Force. Yet, even thinking about them seemed like a foreign process these days.

His past memories were of the same quality as his young, naive future hopes had been: hazy and unfocused. Enough time had passed that his current lifestyle dominated his experience and identity. He was a businessman.

More so, enough time had passed for things to become mundane. If there has been a degree of predictability he had left the Jedi Order for, he had found it in spades.

A gentle chime from his desk reigned in his wondering mind, “The others are almost ready for you.” The thin voice of T-1B8 announced over the comm.

Tares failed to reply. Instead, he waved his hand in front of the holographic display to bring the computer out from its slumber. He began to search for the one piece of information he had already forgotten about twice in a short amount of time.

So, it’s been that long since you disappeared on me. He silently reflected upon finding the desired information.

He used to feel guilty after forgetting the length of time since his brother had disappeared. Drake Vortex - founder of Solaris Enterprises and friend to the old rebellion. Today was another anniversary of his disappearance.

Tares had expected the guilt to set in. Instead, a sense of resistance krept up; not against the guilt, but against the day itself.

Surely he had given enough speeches. Surely no one would forget what his brother had meant for the company. Surely he could skip this year and catch up on the Gateway reports he had been putting off.

Surely he could, and yet he didn't.

Instead, he called up the speech on his datapad and made the necessary alterations. Then, he waved his hand to deactivate the screen and stood up from his desk. It was time to give the same speech as last year and the years before that.

Maybe he'd find a respite, but that would have to wait. He took ahold of the datapad and proceeded to step through the door of his office. The same metallic voice from the holocom greeted him on the other side.

“They are waiting for you, Mr. Vortex….”

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca was not one to feel shortness of breath from the sparring matches as he had built himself upon running nonstop. It was a choice that was mired in the growing threats to the galaxy and bared and refined through him climbing the ranks during such times. While Mirdala and her Mandalorian ways would have put her through rough and rigorous training for fights, he knew that such constant back to backs would leave muscles sore and have minor fatigue, as most Jedi Knights can feel the same way after weeks of nonstop training. Somehow he figured that the mandalorians must feel and reach Kuebiko at times, or at least, the Wookiee assumed that they could or should reach that state. But he wasn't one to judge them.

 

As the next few spars took place, Kirlocca became intentional on forcing Mirdala to conflate with the Force. He used tactics to hide himself in the Force and at times, physically, and would then throw objects at her within the room with he Force. He had to test her, to make sure she would be able to handle herself in a fight if he was not around to fight side by side with her. And the Jedi Master had a propinquity that her training time was coming to an end. Even though she herself may be at an incipient point of working with the Force, she would soon become a solid moiety with his friend Fett. As the days passed, and she began to pick up such skills, he decided to question her.

 

<< What will become of you if your nightmares come true? If the galaxy starts to cave in around you? Can you watch Fett die? Remain calm, find your serenity. While you are no Jedi, and I will not ask you to become one, your serenity is the one thing that will ground you. Control your emotions. They are the one thing that can destroy your life. Adversity, persecution, brokenness... These things will fall upon you. Your center of emotions must always be yours to control. >>

 

The true be told, he had no idea why he made such comment to her. She was calm now, but if she could be rattled... Dark things could come upon her and break her.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Their last pass at each other left Mirdala gasping for breath as she disengaged, tearing her helmet off so she could take some non-recycled air into her lungs and wipe the sweat from her brow as Kirlocca spoke. She hadn't pushed herself this hard even during her trials and training with the Clade. Then again, she thought with a glance to Kandor as he translated, she hadn't thought she'd had as much to fight for then as she did now. Even now, he held out his water bottle to her and she gratefully accepted.

 

She was utterly exhausted having given as much of her absolute all as she dared without causing either of them to seriously injure themselves. Walking that line in and of itself had been physically tricky and adding her new and reawakened abilities on top of that, well, it had certainly been one of her greatest challenges to date. Kirlocca was a fine warrior and Mirdala now better understood how it was he and Kandor had become friends.

 

As mentally worn out as she was, it took her a moment to consider her responses to the question Kirlocca asked. Her eyes met Kandor's, feeling that, to some degree, they'd also been on his mind as well, though the two of them and directly and indirectly danced around the issue, but never truly delved into the reality of the matters the Wookiee now brought up.

 

"I've lived through nightmares before Kirlocca..." she started, recapping the bottle and leaning her forearms on her knees. "I saw my parents brutalized and murdered when I was fourteen. Their killers are still out there and I've had to make peace with the fact that they're never likely to be brought to justice. I've been poisoned, shot, tortured and worse..." Her jade eyes closed again, and she paused. "I am a blacksmith's daughter and these trials have forged me into what I am before you now, no different than my father, Jorbe, and I worked the beskar'gam I'm wearing now."

 

Her eyes closed tightly against the mixture of emotions that welled up within her and she managed to keep her voice calm despite them. "My galaxy has caved in around me so many times that I feel I've gotten pretty damn good at excavating. I don't think that's serenity, though, just my sheer stubbornness that Kandor can likely attest to."

 

"Emotional control is one thing that I had to learn from an early age, as Force-sensitive Mandalorian children tend to attract trouble. It's why the father you met via the holo feed, TeVerd, was brought into my life. He's the one that trained me to hide in the Force and showed me how to tap in and use my empathic abilities from the time I was two or so. It's why I've been able to pick up so much of what you've shown me so quickly."

 

She sighed, not quite avoiding remembering the vivid image from her nightmare while they'd been en route to Hoth and not yet answering what was likely the most important question Kirlocca had asked, "I may express my emotions more so than most of my people tend to outside of battle, but I was trained to be a protector for my community, more a cop than a soldier, but the training is essentially the same..."

 

"But I think my real center comes from my family," she began, lifting her head slightly to look up at the Wookiee directly. "Kandor, TeVerd, any of my brothers. It would hurt horribly to lose any of them, especially to lose more to Ab'ki than has already been taken. It's one of the reasons we're so secretive. The empathic bond we share is another reason."

 

Her head turned slightly to Kandor, since she had yet to tell him this next part. "Death is something that's been a companion for a while now. We all feel it when another of our bond is killed. I think that Ab'ki's been doing it to keep us all with our heads down and off-balance. I feel it more strongly ever since my Seeker trials. I know it's worse the closer the bond is. I don't think anything can really prepare me for when or if that would happen, but I know my brothers will be there for me to bring me through. I don't know that much about Wookiees, but family ties are everything to a Mandalorian."

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

<>

Master Kirlocca, there was some hesitation on the opposite end of the message as Xae-Lin was apparently struggling to find the words to explain the tension that carried through her voice, I hope this finds you safe as Tobias said you were called away to help an old friend. I can't explain it and I have no proof, but I feel something is greatly amiss with the order. Dahar has bestowed the rank of Master on Tobias, who's conferred the rank on me in turn and handed over command of the Eternal Vigilance to me directly. I fear the Jedi are girding for war. That is not the way of the Jedi I know who's mission is to protect life not seek out and destroy it unprovoked. Please, I need your council. We need you or I fear the Order will lose its way. As Guardians it is our duty."

 

<>

[Moon Knight]

Kirlocca's words were extremely pertinent, Kandor reflected as he translated them for Mirdala even as he dwelled on them himself. There had been a very long period in his life where he wouldn't allow himself to feel anything when someone died. He still could not say how he would handle it if Mirdala didn't make it through the coming challenges, especially since he had Moon Knight responsibilities that guaranteed he would persist in some form. He supposed he'd signed up for the pain of loss when he'd traveled down this road with her, and all he wanted was some time with her first. So much more than he'd gotten so far.

 

As for Mirdala, he knew how atin'la she was. She'd soldiered through haran and back -- she'd named him Nor'haran, or Nor'an, for helping to pull her out, but the huge burden of pain and loss he could not bear for her. That beskar core to her, that burning will to cuyanir to the point of defiance towards her enemies, was one of the things that he admired about her. She was stronger than Kandor, who in the face of lesser adversity had simply sealed himself off from his emotions instead of facing them.

 

The periods of rebuilding after great hardship were painful and difficult, but in their profession they invited it. A Mandalorian saying spoke of how pressure made gems, and they were both living proof of the wisdom of those words.

 

Fett and Mirdala were not risk-averse. They were not afraid of what was coming, and they would not back down. They would fight and win or die, then whoever was left would pick up the pieces after it was over and move forward and live, remembering the lost and honoring their memory by living well. But they did not enter these circumstances passively, waiting for disaster to be inflicted upon them by whatever inevitable source. They prepared themselves through training and foresight, hardening themselves through their past experiences and their daily interactions, sharpening each other as beskar sharpened beskar.

 

Until seeing it through Mirdala and her aliit, Kandor had never really understood this. But now it couldn't be any other way.

[Tares Vortex]

“What do you think, Tares?”

 

A crackling, electric hum filled in the silence following the unanswered question. Tares sat on the floor, feeling the cushy mat underneath conforming to the contours of his knees.

 

“Are you listening Tares?”

 

He let this question float in the air for a slight moment and kept his attention on the mat. The hum slowly grew louder and closer. At the end of the moment, the hum split into three distinct sounds, each vibrating at a slightly different pitch.

 

“Yes, Devos. I am listening.” Tares replied into the air.

 

He had escaped the remembrance ceremony as quickly as he could after delivering the feature speech. He could only handle so much of people coming up to him to regive their condolences about his brother’s disappearance. There were too many other matters to address; too many thoughts in his head to tame. He had to multitask; hence the “conference call”.

 

“What are we going to do?” From the loudspeakers built into the ceiling, the voice loomed over Tares’s head.

 

Tares took a deep breath and tightened the muscles in his leg. With an audible, exaggerated sigh, he forced himself off the floor and balanced his bare feet against the sticky mat.

 

“It's not what we are going to do, Devos. I will handle it.” He replied. A fourth hum began as a purple hue sparked into existence in front of him, “I will contact CEC tomorrow morning. We will get the loaders we need by next week Gateway-time.”

 

Tares waited in anticipation for Devos to reply over the comm. His muscles ached for him to lunge forward. His hands anxiously glided in sweat around the metal of the electrostaff he held. One of the trio of old IG-100 droids took a step forward as if to react to Tares’s attack.

 

Still, Tares waited.

 

“If those loaders don't get here in time, I don't think we can keep up with the unloading demands in the capital ship docks.” Devos replied, “That's a lot of cargo to move without equipment.”

 

There it was: the opportunity to act without interrupting the pace of the conversation.

 

Tares stepped forward with a foot and brought up his staff into a guard position. The trio of droids, each holding a staff of their own, fanned out to encompass Tares’s front half. The droids moved together in a collective formation, with a sync few humans could match.

 

He felt his hands twist the staff to raise an end towards his left. The staff immediately vibrated down the core of its shaft as the end met the deflecting glance of a droid’s attack.

 

“Devos,” He began before swinging the opposite end of the staff upward to deflect an almost mirror image attack coming from his right side. “We've known our CEC rep for years now. When has he ever failed to deliver?”

 

“There is a first time for everything.”

 

“You are too paranoid.” Tares replied. He held the right end of his staff in lock against the droid to his side.

 

Consciously, he remained a passive observer. He let his hands and feet move in tandem with the droids’ attacks. Breaking his lock with the flanking droid, he stepped inward to engage the center attacker.

 

Devos continued, completely oblivious to Tares’s dance with the droids, “My paranoia has kept this place running since the attack.”

 

Tares felt his center of gravity shift as he lunged out with the butt of the staff. The end came to an abrupt halt as it found its mark against the center of the droid’s chest. Tares remained in motion, relaxing his grip to let his hand slide over the staff’s metal. “Perhaps,” He began before rolling over the falling droid in front of him, “You could use some of that paranoia to keep us from getting into this situation again in the future.” He finished upon rising up to his feet.

 

“Tares, is everything okay? You sound out of breath.”

 

Out of breath? Really? He thought to himself.

 

He was now facing his remaining attackers. The two upright droids slowly approached in sync while their fallen comrade remained still with arcs of electricity dancing over its chest plate.

 

“I'm fine, just getting ready for a quick jog.” He replied while backing away to give himself a few more moments of delay.

 

“Most people aren't out of breath before a jog. Maybe you should call it a day.”

 

Before he could reply, Tares was instinctively in motion once again. The droids rushed his position, making up the small gains in distance he had inched moments earlier.

 

Tares drew a breath to slow his perception. He took note of the little details surrounding the droids: the way the mat depressed against the weight of their feet; the apparent precision in their gaze; the extended positions of their staves. Both droids had broken their defensive postures to ready their weapons for attack after their stampede. The left droid had its electrostaff raised above to strike down. The right had its weapon poised to strike Tares’s side.

 

He moved forward to cut their attack off early.

 

He shifted his grip downwards on his staff to project the shaft up and outwards from his body. The weight of the staff increased as its center of gravity moved further away. By the time the weapon found its mark, Tares had to grip down hard to keep the metal in his hands. Then he tugged the staff to his side.

 

Its end had caught the tip of left droid’s downward striking staff. Tares’s forceful tug brought the enemy tip off its arc and into the head of the parallel droid’s extended arms. As the droid lost its footing under the weight of both staves, Tares moved in further toward his initial contact on the left.

 

Tares stepped left and climbed up his staff with his hands until the weapon was centered in his grip once more. He then continued the staff’s arc and brought the opposite end toward the final droid’s exposed shoulder as it attempted to catch its balance. The droid was off center just enough for Tares’s attack to feel like a slight nudge against its armor plating.

 

Tares let the chorus of crashing metal and fried circuitry confirm the outcome of his attack.

 

“Maybe you are right, Devos.” He continued while bringing his staff to hold up against the floor, “Maybe it is a sign to call it a day. You will have your loaders. Tares out.” He finished, foregoing a graceful, elegant exit.

 

“Congratulations, sir.” A new voice spoke from the same loudspeakers, “Two minutes and thirty seconds even. Total caloric out take: twenty three. You may now consume a light pastry from the reception hall.”

 

Tares felt the corners of his mouth creep up into a smirk. He walked away from the pile of damaged droids on the floor and placed the staff on a wall rack nearby. “Atlas, is that sarcasm I sense in your voice?” He asked the voice overhead.

 

“No sir. All settings under ‘irony’ have been muted while package updates are being installed.”

 

He couldn’t tell if the droid was being truthful or not. He didn’t even know if his personal assistant even had emotional subroutines to start.

 

“Your daily uplink to the holonet is now ready. Shall I transfer the link to your datapad?”

 

Tares stepped up to the door of the room and pushed the control to open it. The door slide open to reveal a small, flat, circular droid hovering a meter off of the ground.

 

“No, Atlas.” He greeted the droid in person, “Read the top headlines out loud to me while I get dressed.”

 

It was time to put his suit back on….

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca remained quiet as he listened to Mirdala speak. Her answers showed him far much more then maybe she realized. She was as stubborn and strong willed as the Jedi Master had thought. As she finished, the Wookiee was careful in choosing his words and allowed for that to show. He turned and glanced over at Fett when his comlink beeped at him. He didn't look at it or pick it up right away, but instead looked back at Mirdala.

 

<< You are a much stronger student that I have ever had. You have drive, focus, and the will to accomplish all things. If you had grown up within the Jedi Order, you would have become one of the best the Jedi had ever seen and I would have been very proud of you. In fact, I am still proud of you and all that you have accomplished... >>

 

Kirlocca now let his body drop a bit in stance as he let out a sigh.

 

<< However, Don't mistake one set of trials for another. Each one will test you. No one knows the future for sure, and each trial will present something new you have never done before. There are trials still marked for me, ones that I am unprepared to face. They will challenge me and could change my fate and future. The same is said for you. The same is said for Fett. The same could be said for anyone... >>

 

Kirlocca let his words hang. Mirdala was no fool, she would weigh his words and find what merit she could in them. For the moment, he turned his attention to the message on his comlink. After listening to it, his own mind began to reach out through the Force to try to feel Xae and her emotions in the Force. He was not skilled in doing such things like former Grandmasters have done in the past like Kitt and Ara-Lai Kappi. He closed his eyes and did his best to communicate to her a feeling of lingering within the Force. He hoped that she would understand the message to wait for him and to find a spot. But there was no guarantee she would know such a thing from a Jedi Master with no real skills in communicating great distance through the Force.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

It took her a moment to rise when Kandor began translating the Wookiee's words once more, a tired smile brightening her face as she stood to embrace the Wookiee. "Vor entye Master Kirlocca. I owe you a great debt and give you my word to use it to protect others."

 

Eyeing his comm link as it buzzed again, she turned back to Kandor to give him some privacy with whatever business was calling him next. "I'm going to go take a shower before I start dinner," she intoned as she passed him, heading back to the Justice with Vi'ika trailing closely behind her.

[Moon Knight]

It seemed to Kandor like this stage was coming to a close. Kirlocca was getting comms which would likely pull him away, but he had accomplished quite a lot in two weeks here and Fett felt significantly better about where Mirdala's Force talents lay a result. He wouldn't change a thing about the entire circumstance from the moment he'd invited the jetii to Corellia, and it seemed Mirdala felt the same way. They both owed Kirlocca a debt, but he was one of the individuals in the oyu'baat that Fett least minded owing.

 

As Mirdala walked by and spoke to him, Kandor caught a hint of an invitation in her eyes and voice. He watched her retreating form for a second, nodded to Kirlocca in acknowledgement, then followed her.

 

Boarding the Justice, Fett caught up to her halfway to the refresher. "You looked really good in there," he said. He would certainly want to get a chance to spar with her himself, experience firsthand her speed and the precognition that came with her developing Force abilities. "How are you feeling about all of it? I know how big a step this has been for you..."

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca was a bit taken back by the hug from Mirdala, as very few had ever embraced him like that. In fact, outside of Lei-Kim Ness, no adult had ever given a hug to him for any reason. While he was naturally friendly and would give out hugs, too often in the Jedi Order that sort of thing can get lost. It made him miss for a very short moment the era that held all of those close Jedi friends. Ara, Lei, Andon, Aryian, Keiran, and Mes and Tares. Somehow they were always around each other and always were ready to give a helping hand where needed. But such days had long since passed. Giving his own nod to Fett, the Jedi Master waited for him to be out of the way before he responded to Xae's comm.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

"Better...I think," she offered him, slipping out of her flak jacket, her gaze falling to the hunt badge she and TeVerd shared on their armor. Her fingers brushed the sigil before she looked back up at him. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I did this, but it also has opened my eyes to exactly what damage can be done if used irresponsibly." She shook her head, "I mean...We've both seen it before...but to know I'm capable of the same or greater...It's a lot."

 

She put the armor down and began removing the other plates and stored them with the rest. "I know Ab'ki is going to seriously regret messing with my family," she continued, a note of unwavering determination crept into her voice. "I'm really not sure I agree with TeVerd keeping us out for this long. I know I could track her down myself if given enough time..."

[Moon Knight]

Kandor went about removing his own plates. The process didn't take long, since he didn't wear his repulsor pack around the house. Really it was just the flak jacket and popping the mag-seals on the remaining plates and gauntlets, then kute, which wasn't much more than a normal set of civilian clothes.

 

He paused during the process and brushed a loose strand of hair behind Mirdala's ear, then let his fingers linger along her jawline briefly. "We have to trust the team. There's no way they're keeping us out of the fight when it comes down to it. They know that and are doing everything they can to find her," he reassured her.

 

Kandor opened the door to the refresher, waiting for her to go in. "Don't you think it's okay to slow down a bit and take what time we have together while we can, cyar'ika?"

 

There was no telling how much or how little time they had. The call could come from TeVerd or Rhys any day and they would be off into the the thick of things again. He knew they were more ready than ever, but there was little doubt that there would be times ahead when they would look back to the quiet downtime they'd spent together in the early days of their marriage, and he was in no particular hurry to shorten these spare days or weeks more than they needed to.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

She pulled her tank over her head and regarded him for a moment before laughing slightly. "It seems the tables have turned somewhere along the route. I'm the one insisting on charging ahead, when, instead I should be enjoying this." Closing the distance between them, she stood on her toes to kiss him, splaying her hands against his bare chest and feeling his own arms encircle her waist.

 

The two of them had fought so hard to get to this point, it wasn't fair to either of them to rush through it. She knew he understood her need to drive forward now that an enemy was nearly in her sight, but there would always be that next enemy, a next hunt or mission. These seemingly stolen moments where it was just the two of them were something to slow down and enjoy. It was the life both of them had chosen, the life both of them loved. The risks and danger the two of them sought for the benefit of others only meant that every second of moments like these should be savored, because neither one of them knew when it might be their last.