Hoth

[Moon Knight]

((Minor dictation of Mirdala's actions with permission.))

 

Although she kept her voice even, Kandor saw reflected in her jade eyes the fact that she was hurt that he'd kept the information from her for this long. It reflected in a way what was a very ugly truth -- neither Taen nor Kandor really knew what she would do with the data, and she had proven herself something of a loose cannon when it came to matters like these, very quick to act and not always pausing to consider the consequences before doing so. They honestly hadn't trusted her to do the right thing when equipped with the best information they had. Not even enough to tell her that he had it until this moment.

 

Kandor got up when prompted, but it was slow as he searched for the right words to say. There was no hint of anger or frustration, but rather he was hurting along with her. From the first day Taen had let him in on the case files he'd felt dishonest keeping anything from her, because he loved her. But as with the issue of Force training, part of loving her was trying to do the best thing for her and her aliit, and sometimes that meant following good operational security at the cost of having situations like this arise.

 

"N'eparavu takisit," he said, picking up his buy'ce from the table. "I don't want to keep anything from you, cyar'ika. No one likes being kept in the dark. But this had to be handled a certain way for sound reasons, even if they feel wrong." The Mando'ade were a pragmatic people, and so was Kandor as a rule. But when it came to her... well, it was almost enough to rethink it all.

 

He turned and move towards the door. "Wait," she called after him. "I... think it's best if you took the spare cabin tonight. Give me some space to process this, okay?"

 

Fett nodded and grabbed his travel duffel before passing through the door and hearing it slide shut behind him. He dropped the bag and headed back towards the rest of the team to share the discovery. Mirdala was right -- there was no reason to stay on Hoth any longer. In fact, just about anywhere else sounded better to him. The ice world had not been kind to any of them.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

It was late that night when she awoke with a start, feeling for Kandor a moment before she remembered why he wasn't with her. Vi'ika was at her side instantly, however, whining slightly as she nuzzled Mirdala's hand with her cold, wet nose. "I'm fine Vi'ika...Just another dream."

 

Her mind was trying to tell her something, whether it was through the Force, the Manda, or simply her own mind continuing to sift through itself, she didn't know. The half pieces scattered here and there, surfacing randomly as they pleased...it was all rather...annoying. For a moment she considered going to him, but she knew that it would only be a short-term solution to the actual issues she wasn't so sure she wanted to face.

 

That lightsaber...someone went to a lot of trouble to get it into my hands...

 

Her decision made, she reached beside the nightstand where she'd stashed the crutch Vy'ika had fashioned together from some of their supplies to help her hobble around the ship while her shoulder and ankle healed. Walking was uncomfortable, to say the least, but at the moment she was willing to endure some discomfort if it meant she might be able to find answers to move them forward.

 

The rest of the ship was quiet as she clanked her way down the short corridor to what served as the ship's gathering area. It didn't surprise her to see Rhys sitting there looking over a datapad sipping something steaming from a mug at the table.

 

"Just where do you think you're headed?" He asked quietly, not looking up from the datapad. They'd left the surface but hadn't broken orbit yet as Vy'ika had convinced them to do one more pass at full sensors just to make sure there weren't any pockets they might have missed. The risk was worth it since they were prepped to leave anyway and any activity would only serve to flush out any remnants of the cultists on that planet, if there'd ever been any to begin with. Rhys was looking over the data waiting for it to finish.

 

"To look at the lightsaber," she shifted her weight against the crutch so it was easier to stand. "I think if I see it, I might be able to remember more about who it belongs to. Jog my memory...that sort of thing."

 

"Uh-huh..."

 

"Do you have a better idea, Rhys? There are only two of us on this ship that know that saber, and only one that was there to see it used." she'd expected to have to argue her case with whoever had stayed up with the scanners, she hadn't expected it to be Rhys though.

 

He put down the datapad and regarded her for a moment. "Kandor mentioned how you knew the saber. From your dream the other night. You really sure this is a good idea?"

 

"You don't have a better one do you?"

 

"You could wait until we get back..."

 

"Where, Rhys? Vy'ika practically said that Concord Dawn is not a safe place for me as long as things continue to escalate. Whether that's due to this stupid target on my back from some mysterious fellow we've crossed twice now happened to mention to Kandor while in the middle of a fight or not. You still have no proof of the bounty do you?" She countered. Mirdala was getting really tired of being shunted around on what she felt was more "protective duty" by the others. It was starting to rankle, despite their good intentions and her knowing their reasons for taking up the duty in the first place.

 

"We do have other safehouses you know...and no, we're no close to discovering any more about who dropped Kandor the hit other than to confirm that he is, indeed, a bounty hunter with a long and sordid history and a trail of bodies to go with it," He looked at her levelly, "However, it's up to you. Just don't take it out of the ysalimiri field. There's an uncomfortable Dark Side energy coming off of it and I'd rather not see that particular dream of yours fulfilled, no matter who's at the end of the blade."

 

She cast her brother a warning look. "Wow, Rhys. Usually, you're more subtle than that. Besides, I wasn't planning on it. I've had my share of run-ins with Force-relics."

 

The scanner chirped, indicating that its job was completed. They could now break orbit and head for home.

 

"Subtlety doesn't always work on you Mird'ika," he admitted, rising to start plotting a course out of the system. "I just wanted to make sure that you'd thought all of this through." He rested his hand on her good shoulder and moved past her to the cockpit.

 

She stood quietly, looking back after him, then down the corridor for a few heartbeats before deciding to press on towards the cargo hold where the lightsaber and ysalamiri were stowed, Vi'ika at her side.

 

As she opened the case, well within the ysalamiri bubble, she noted how innocuous, yet deadly the thing seemed. While on one hand part of her could appreciate the artistry that would have gone into creating such a weapon, the other, larger part couldn't forget what such a weapon could to in trained, or untrained, hands. Turning it over in her hands, she sat on one of the nearby crates and studied the weapon further, trying to will it to stir something within the recesses of her lost memory when the ship suddenly jolted, knocking her off balance. Unable to steady herself as another jolt rocked the ship, combined with what felt like evasive maneuvers, she, with the lightsaber still clutched in her hand tumbled, falling outside of the ysalamiri influences.

 

Searing pain shot up her arm and she felt her hand involuntarily clench over the hilt of the lightsaber as an onslaught of Force energy surged through her. She barely had time to scream before she lost consciousness and knew no more.

[Moon Knight]

Whatever jolted the ship woke Kandor up just before he heard Mirdala's scream and hauled himself to his feet, shaking the cobwebs out of his kovid and rubbing his eyes as he reached the door and the light from the main living space flooded into his dark cabin. It took him a second to adjust, but he quickly realized that Mirdala was collapsed on the deck plates, jetii'kad rolling out of her hand.

 

"Haar'chak," he swore, grabbing the weapon and thrusting it back into the open case safely within the ysalamiri bubble. He quickly dropped to his knees and laid Mirdala out flat so she wasn't crumpled on top of her broken ankle, and was aware of the rest of the team arriving on the scene. Vi'ika was right beside him, whining and barking, nearly in a panic. "Mirdala! Me'bana?" Kandor said, trying to figure out what was happening to her. Surely not a nightmare this time. Some kind of attack triggered by the lightsaber?

 

Vy'ika, figuring out what had happened, shouted towards the cockpit. "Nice flying, Rhys," he snapped sarcastically.

 

"Sorry, meteor shower popped up," Rhys called back. "Wasn't on the scopes."

 

Kandor looked at the others with a sense of urgency. "She's unconscious. Can you tell what's happening?"

 

Vy'ika gave him a grim look. "It's not good."

 

"Here we go again," Torne muttered. He'd been there the last time something like this happened to Mirdala and wasn't at all thrilled about dealing with it once more.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Vy'ika knelt down beside her head, concern knitting his brow. “Torne, go relieve Rhys at the helm. I need him back here now. I'm having trouble sensing her, almost as though I'm being blocked by something or her signature has changed somehow.” He looked up to Kandor to explain briefly, his eyes were glowing brightly and his tone changed his fangs dropped as well as Vy'ika gave himself over to the Ageless part of him. “We need to anchor her and fast. Rhys and I know her the best so we're less likely to get push back from her usual defenses.”

 

“Don't suppose you happen to have a back door into that neural implant of hers,” Rhys remarked pulling back her eyelids and not liking the vacant stare emanating from behind them. “Maybe we can get through that way. Valkieth, get Nekkir and TeVerd on the comms we need them the loop before we bug out of here to advise. Kriffit!” He growled around fangs of his own. “I never should have let her back there!” He pounded his fist against the bulkhead in a rather uncharacteristic display of emotions. Clenching his jaw he calmed himself, before placing a hand on Mirdala's shoulder, feeling for her through the empathic bond.

 

“Vy'ika and I have to concentrate,” Rhys turned over his shoulder, “you'll have to do the talking for us Kandor and Valkieth can help you coordinate.”

 

Someone care to tell me what the Ten Hells is going on? TeVerd’s voice came over the comm channel as Valkieth set up a data pad so their former training Sargent could better assess the scene.

[Moon Knight]

Kandor shook his head once at Rhys' question about the backdoor into the implant. It was his experience that backdoors were always found by the enemy, and that rendered anything that had one intrinsically insecure. He immediately felt a jolt of frustration when he realized there was very little he could do to help Mirdala directly due to lacking any sort of empathic abilities. He quickly forced the emotion down, turning himself off and entering a mental state much like he used in battle -- he couldn't let his emotions or his relationship with Mirdala interfere with the mental clarity he needed to make good decisions.

 

The Mando'ad got to his feet and retrieved the medkit in case they needed to administer drugs to make sure she didn't hurt herself further. Inside was a datapad that he wirelessly linked to her implant, which dutifully spit out vitals readings. He then grabbed the ysalamir on its frame and moved it to fully envelop Mirdala, suspecting that the attack was Force-based. Immediately the vitals readout dropped sharply. He blinked at it, then moved the ysalamir back and they stabilized again. I guess not, he thought.

 

TeVerd popped onto the comm. Kandor looked at the veteran Seeker, Mirdala's adopted buir. "There were no cultists on Hoth," he reported. "But we found an old ruin and a jetii'kad that belonged to the dar'jetii Mirdala killed on Concord Dawn several years ago. We brought it back in an ysalamir bubble, but while she was examining the weapon she was jarred outside the bubble and collapsed."

 

"Is this like what happened on Coruscant?" TeVerd asked.

 

Kandor had been related that story briefly during his time on Concord Dawn while Mirdala was doing her Clade training on Tatooine. The short version was that Mirdala had sustained self-inflicted empathic trauma starting with an incident where she had come into contact with a seemingly-innocuous object from her early childhood -- when she had been experimented upon by her biological parents, the Sivaaras, and used as a test subject in a BakToid lab. The object, an ik'aad's doll, had somehow mentally linked her back to those horrifying experiences. Later, she'd been at a party at the Sivaara estate and suffered a much worse empathic episode that had led her to become trapped in a nightmare world where it had taken the whole team to pull her out through a series of drastic measures.

 

Nekkir popped up on the other screen. The somewhat Bothan-looking Omicron was a critical part of the solution to any problem like this, and knew Mirdala's psyche better than any of them. He looked like he'd just woken up. "Have you administered anti-shock yet?"

 

"Now's not the time," Vy'ika answered, his voice strained. "This... is different from before."

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Nek looked down at the read out as his brain seemed to visibly work its way back to consciousness. He yawned ferociously before interjecting what the data was telling him. For one thing - another gaping yawn -her brain activity isn't registering at her normal readings. Oh...This can't be right…

 

“What is it Nekkr?” Valkieth prodded.

 

Nek blinked a few more times, rechecking the data to make sure he was seeing what he thighs he was. I’d need to run more tests to confirm, but I'm seeing two distinct output patterns, he paused. Kandor, if there's a neural scanner in that medkit, get it on her. I need more data than her implant will give me alone.

 

After a few moments of rummaging in the aforementioned kit, Kandor found what Nek had requested. Gently he turned her head to the side and attached it to the base of her skull, just next to Uhalu’s brand. A minute later he confirmed it.

 

“Okay,” Rhys began, sweat beading on his brow, “So we know it's some kind of Force trauma to the mind, the question is how can we fix it?”

 

You’ll need another Force User to counter. TeVerd interjected. Think either of them are up to the challenge Rhys?

 

The Omicron shook his head, “Their mother gave them what training she could, but this feels much stronger than something even the two of them could handle together.”

 

“We’ll need someone stronger, closer to Mirdala's level of strength,” Valkieth concurred. “That part will be the problem. Not exactly safe or wise to put out a call for them. They're being hunted and someone mentioned a bounty on the girl…”

 

TeVerd looked past the other Omicrons and directly at Kandor, Mirdala mentioned you two used to work with and for the Jedi, correct? He didn't bother pausing before adding, It's up to you now to save her. Get her to someone we can trust.

[Moon Knight]

There was an unmistakable edge to TeVerd's voice. He was charging Kandor with his daughter's life.

 

Kandor's battle calm held. Of course he was going to do everything he could to save Mirdala's life. In this case, he needed to come up with a Force user with the best chance of getting in there and pulling her out of whatever had happened. He knew firsthand that Emily would be up to the task, but pragmatically he knew that if he brought in someone who had even a hint of darkness about her, the Seekers in the group would either blow a gasket or simply kill her. No, the better choice was one of the jetiise, and there was none he trusted more than Kirlocca.

 

In the late days of the war, he and Kirlocca had fought together even as the rest of the Augury faded away. They'd trained each other aboard the Enigma and then carried out an attack on Ilum, then ventured to Coruscant for the long, hard battle in and above the Imperial Spire during which Fett had been named Mand'alor. They'd fought together again aboard the Death Star in the days before the formation of the Galactic Alliance, and he knew that there were few stronger or more experienced in the ways of the Force.

 

Fett nodded at TeVerd, stood and retrieved his buy'ce to call up the wookiee's contact information, then placed his call.

 

((Comm in the Tython thread, here.))

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Vy’ika & Rhys, don't burn yourselves out either. Take it in shifts until Kandor can get you to his contact. Keep me in the loop. TeVerd took one last look at Mirdala's still form before closing the link from his end.

 

Kandor, if you'll let me know where to meet you, Nek intoned, I can be there to help things along from the physical realm.

[Moon Knight]

Kandor finished his call, pulled his buy'ce back off, and replied to Nek. "Remember my safehouse on Corellia where you met us after Abraxos?" he asked. "There's a Jedi Master on his way there now."

 

He had to admit, he was somewhat relieved that Kirlocca was even still alive. The galaxy was very hostile towards jetiise bal dar'jetiise with the million-credit bounty on their heads, and he hadn't been in frequent contact with the Wookiee lately. He would have to catch up with him at some point, try to get a feel for just how bad things had gotten, but for now offering his safehouse was a good way to keep both of their locations private from the various people that were looking for them.

 

Hoth was not especially close to Corellia on a galactic scale, but the Hoth system sat right on the Corellian Trade Spine which connected it all the way to that world with a single hyperspace jump, so the trip would be fairly quick. And it was a good thing, too, given how little they understood about Mirdala's condition.

 

Kandor headed to the cockpit to make sure Rhys had the location, and a minute later they were making the jump into hyperspace bound for the core.

[Tobias Vos]

Tommin eased back on the hyperdrive control and the blue glow of the drive faded to star lines, then settled to be tiny lights all around. Scannings and Surveying, LLC. the company that he and his crew worked for had allowed them a brief vacation, but with pressure from the company that had hired them was getting fidgety. And so for the last week he said goodbye to his family, his daughter wasn't thrilled to let him go again, but she knew daddy had to work.

 

Why they were here on the ice planet, with no real discernible features was beyond him. At least it would be easy to get in, get out. Time to get back to work...