Concord Dawn

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Vy'ika shook his head. "None of us knew TeVerd had survived," he scratched the back of his head somewhat amused.

 

"Out of the group on Coruscant," Mirdala interjected, "I was the first to know."

 

"I had been ordered to shadow her after she met up with the Ad'Norts. Essentially to help hide her within the stream and deliver her hound. Found her and TeVerd passed out at the Sivaaras after they burned one another out. It was the first in a line of rather interesting events..."

 

"On some level all of us Omicrons are empaths, but the levels are varied. Our reason for being was to provide the glorious galactic republic with a specialized breed of wet droid that could hunt down rogue Jedi and any cultists that cropped up to cause trouble," he explained not without a measure of sarcasm.  "Rhys, Rahg, and this one apparently," he indicated Mirdala with a nod, "Are the few Seekers among us." There was something she couldn't quite read in his expression, but she had the feeling it had to do with her choice to take up the path. 

 

"As for how I got involved, I was ordered to by TeVerd's father." He looked at Kandor and noted Mirdala's hand still intertwined with his. 

 

"How is it that another of Jango gene set was put into production? Kaminoan bastards must have had some stored somewhere we weren't able to get to. Never liked the idea of them growing more to take out their predecessors. As you said, it's been nearly a century since the Clone Wars..."

[Moon Knight]

Kandor nodded as he revised his working story of what had happened on Triple Zero. They'd actually been there for Mirdala and it had been her that discovered their old ruus'alor still lived. That would mean that he was either there looking for her as well, or he just happened upon her while performing Rale Sindak's Consolidated Security duties. Chances seemed slim on the surface considering the trillion people that lived on the ecumenopolis that was Coruscant, but he knew from the chip Mirdala had found in TeVerd's damaged buy'ce that the Ageless was investigating BakToid which led back to the Sivaaras. They'd been working on the same problem, and both by attempting to blend into the Coruscanti social elite. It was kind of inevitable that they crossed paths.

 

While he didn't have the whole story, it was enough to satisfy his curiosity.

 

"My dead buir must have placed a special order for me -- I wasn't part of a batch," he said. "He never married, as far as I know, so I suppose he thought it a practical way to go about having a son." He hesitated for a moment, but decided he didn't really need to hold back the details. "He was raised Kyr'tsad, I think, changed his ways before I was born and I guess symbolically Jango Fett was a good template given his role in the Mandalorian Civil War. But really he managed to bring me up without ever talking about his past. Kelborn was a good verd, did his best to pass his skills to me and raise me to follow the resol'nare and Mereel's Codex, but not a great buir."

 

Incidentally, that was harder to talk about than Moon Knight or CoreSec or even Black Sun. Those were things he had control over, things that had taken decisions on his part. Guessing the circumstances of his birth based on his dead buir he didn't understand and wasn't proud of was harder. Kelborn was not responsible for what Kandor had become in his mind -- whatever heights he had ascended to had been achieved by his own hard work.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Mirdala squeezed Kandor's hand slightly, running her thumb over the back of his hand, knowing that it wasn’t a subject he liked bringing up. She cast a wary glance towards Vy’ika, not quite sure how he would react.

 

The other man was silent for a bit, subtly tuned in to her signature as though trying to gauge how much of this might be new information to her. Finally, he let out a low breath, “Kelborn must’ve had some serious creds to convince them…or serious weapons. Still, it’s a lot of trouble to go in for a Jango model. If he was wanting to become a buir, there really are much easier and cheaper ways to go about it…adoption for one…” he mused to himself. “I guess that we, of all people, know that a genetic template doesn’t make you who you are, it just dictates what kind of vehicle you get to drive. Word of advice, I wouldn’t legitimize them with the Mando’a name around TeVerd. He’s tangled with more than a few of the nastier ones in the past, unless of course you’re looking to make him twitch. I dunno…could be fun…”

 

“Seriously Verdeyuii, do you ever stop?” Mirdala sighed.

 

He nudged her in return, briefly switching to archaic Mando’a, “I might when you start being honest with yourself and him. Don’t let misguided guilt rule you."

 

Mirdala pursed her lips, but didn’t respond.

 

Stretching out his legs, Vy'ika shifted into a more comfortable position on the floor before continuing in the version of the language Kandor could readily understand. “Though growing up an only child who admits his buir wasn’t much of one does explain some things though. You were taught the Resol’nare, but not wholly how to live them. Didn’t have many playmates or teammates before, I take it?” The concept of a solitary upbringing intrigued Vy’ika who’d only ever known the controlled chaos of his brothers and their empathic instructors.

[Moon Knight]

"Out there, fighting among the aruetiise?" Kandor asked rhetorically. "Not many, not for long. Didn't need anyone else until it came time to tackle bigger targets. A few teams turned out to be pretty good at getting things done, though."

 

He decided it probably wasn't a good idea to mention that he considered a jetii to be one of his staunchest surviving allies. The Augury hadn't all been great, but Darkfire had known what he was doing when he'd recruited a few of their members. Still, it hadn't been long before he and Kirlocca were running the outfit themselves with loaned Republic assets, and they'd lost momentum by the time the assault on the Imperial Spire came around.

 

Thankfully, the war had ended shortly after and there was no further need for the black ops organization.

 

 

"I had no idea that TeVerd's buir was still around," he commented after a moment of contemplative silence. "You're still under his employ? He must be pretty invested in this himself."

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Vy'ika's mouth twitched slightly. 

 

Ba'buir's nu kyr'adyc, she taab’echaaj’la, Mirdala answered quietly. 

 

"Not like the others though," Vy'ika explained. "He was centuries old when TeVerd was born. Still, he was involved. Many of us provide security at the station from time to time. It's still in family hands. I remember he was sure as hell surprised that TeVerd had kept her hidden, even from him."

 

"Considering he's the one that initiated Rahg's training, I can understand why," Mirdala remarked casually. 

 

"Now who shared that tidbit of information with you?" Vy'ika asked, his eyebrow raised.

 

"Viscount. He told me after I'd had the pleasure of meeting Rahg face to face," she answered popping a piece of jokari fruit into her mouth. 

 

"Ah. Well, don't let that particular lapse of judgement sway you about him." Vy'ika shrugged, before turning back to Kandor. "You mentioned what aliit you had is gone. Were you married before?"

[Moon Knight]

"Nayc," Kandor answered. "Well, married to the hunt maybe. Most aruetii women want someone they can settle down with to marry, not someone like us." If exactly Mirdala hadn't come along at just the right time, he might never have pursued getting involved with someone. He had other outlets for his energy, and dying on some battlefield somewhere was still a distinct possibility that he was willing to face -- even a battlefield where he was fighting for a cause other than his own, although recently he had begun to shape the work he took on to at least fit what he considered to be his and Moon Knight's path.

 

He was struck with an idea just then on that note, a potential path for him to take in the future that would solve his issues with CoreSec but still provide him with a steady stream of jobs. It would be a long, hard road, especially if it was ever going to become profitable. But it would be worth the effort even if it failed, a pursuit worthy of a lifetime. He made a mental note to talk it over with Mirdala. At any rate, it wouldn't matter if they both got themselves killed hunting down Fieyr and his mysterious employers. For now he logged it away.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Mirdala didn’t bother to suppress her short laugh at the Kandor’s admission to being married to his job.

 

Vy’ika got up and shrugged. “It’s more about finding the right one that doesn’t mind, doesn’t always have to be Mando’ad, but it helps.”

 

The large white hound appeared in the door way with Vi’ika at her side. Vy’ika patted each on their head affectionately before turning, “I’ve imposed on the two of you long enough, I think. Best go see what Rhys has planned for while you and Buir are away. Have fun you two…but not too much…” He departed with a wave.

 

“Conversations with him often take a turn for the surreal. I guess that’s kind of the odd thing about family, you don’t always choose it, sometimes it chooses you.” He didn’t miss the blush still evident in her cheeks.

[Moon Knight]

"Personally I find it refreshing," Kandor said, turning back to Mirdala after Vy'ika left. "Clearing the air of a few questions makes it easier to focus on the real puzzle.

 

"Besides," he continued, grasping her hand and studying her face, noting the blush. She seemed to do it a lot when the others hinted that they knew there was something going on between them, and yet beyond a few sparse moments like the other day when she'd let slip she was thinking about their shared future, she'd been reluctant to address it outright. "I plan to see a lot of your ori'vode, doesn't hurt to get to know them a bit." He wasn't nearly so hesitant. What he'd told her on Myrkr what seemed like ages ago hadn't changed, and he freely admitted it to himself.

 

But as much as he considered reminding her of that, he knew he couldn't fully understand what she'd gone through. TeVerd had turned up alive but so many others had joined the Manda and weren't coming back. It was simply more complicated than just his side of things, and so he would continue to take her pace. Eventually she would come around and not have to blush anymore. He would k'oyacyi long enough to see that, even if it meant another month of analyst work and virtually no shooting at all, as terrible as that sounded.

 

Grabbing a bit of skraan off the plate, Kandor stood and helped Mirdala up with his other hand. There was a lot of work to do.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

She held him back for a moment, his hand still firmly within her grasp. Her expression made it evident her mind was working over something as she searched his face when he’d turned back to face her. They’d been actively partners now for a little over two and a half years, not counting her eight month absence and had at least been around each other a year before that. In that time their relationship and trust in one another had grown, evolving into now what she knew was written in her heart.

 

“I don’t see you as just another asset to the team, Kandor,” her voice was quiet, but it wasn’t hesitancy he heard, just her trying to organize her thoughts enough to form them into vocalizations. “They don’t either, I think…well some of them anyway. They respect what you’ve done for me…and how I feel about you, despite whatever missteps either of us have had along the way…” Her jade eyes darted away as the blush crept back into her cheeks. Part of her hated the fact she had the tell.

 

She’d always tended to keep her feelings closer to the surface, except this particular one she was still trying to make sense of. Sure, she’d loved others before, but this felt different somehow. In many ways it reminded her of the bottomless pool in the Red Dreams, only it seemed to call to her in a different manner. It didn’t help that she knew the others seemed more aware of those same emotions regarding Kandor than she was even sure of herself.

 

But maybe that was it. Love wasn’t something that was always certain, yet it was at the same time. She knew he loved her to the point he’d been willing to jump into this fight without being able to have all the pieces he needed to plan out his battles the way he liked. He’d wanted to shield her from what had ultimately been an attack on his psyche from Faust, wanting to keep her safe despite knowing that she at least had the abilities to help him.

 

Why had she really decided to go to Enigma? The others had safe houses and havens across the galaxy and would have been willing to let her have her space at any one of them, so why had she chosen to return to Enigma? The Manda? The Force? The off-chance she might run in to Kandor again? If she were being honest with herself, there was a part of her that had held on to the slim hope that he’d be there. How they’d left things wasn’t the last memory of her she wanted him to have if they’d never seen each other again.

 

“I’ve, in some way, always been able to see past ShadowFett and the ruthless killer others see you form. I see you as the man you are, and who you’ve ultimately chosen yourself to be. The man I love.”

 

Suddenly the words started coming faster, as though she’d broken through a damn she hadn’t realize was there. “I don’t know what this means for us, if we even have to label it, but there it is. I can see us having a future together and it excites me and terrifies me at the same time and for the same reasons.” She barely paused for a breath before continuing.

 

“I don’t know what that means now or even in this moment other than I love you. There are times I feel guilty for it, for being happy when I know what’s happening out there. I know there is no real rationale to it, but it doesn’t make the feelings go away. All of this,” she gestured towards the men buried beneath their feet and towards the house where the others were gathered, “is a lot to take on, even for me. But to be wiling to walk beside us, knowing that you’ll be going blind or without every scrap of information you’d like to have…that’s more than most would be willing to do. It’s a hell of a lot more than some before you have done…"

[Moon Knight]

Kandor smiled. "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, cyar'ika," he told her. "I never stopped. There's a whole galaxy full of trouble out there and I don't think I can ever leave it alone as long as I have the strength to do something about it. But if we can learn to take it on together and make time for ourselves somewhere in there, I know we can make it work. And somehow I think we will." Although this case was deeply personal for Mirdala, he knew that it was just one trial in the lifetime still before them. If they couldn't make time now, they may never be able to.

 

He pulled her close and kissed her, two verde in beskar'game that were somehow completely vulnerable, any fortifications they had built forfeit in a moment of connection. When they finally separated, he looked down into those deep jade eyes of hers. "This cause is my cause, your aliit the closest thing I've ever had to being my own. Stay safe during training, with any luck your vode and I will have another set of answers and new questions when you get back."

 

This made it a bit tougher that she was leaving so soon, but that was another part of the lifestyle they'd chosen. All he could do was compartmentalize, focus on what he could do in the moment, and do everything that he could do to make the future they were beginning to plan the best one he could.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

“I wouldn’t ask you to leave it alone Kandor, I know I certainly can’t and I know you know better than to ask me to.” She kissed him again, briefly before pulling back.

 

“This is horribly unfair of me to bring this out in the open now, before I leave again. At least this time you know I’ll be back.” Resting her head against his chest plate, she hugged him closely. “We should probably get back to things."

 

At his nod, she led him out of the shed and fell into step beside him, her hand still in his as they approached Vy’ika, Rhys, and Viscount who’d migrated to the porch to talk strategy.

 

“Kandor, you’re headed to the precinct this morning, yes?” Viscount asked as they approached. The data pads from the night before were now strewn on the make-shift table amongst them.

[Moon Knight]

The commitment seemed to make the road ahead seem less treacherous, as though the certainty of what they had expressed shone like a steady torch in the encroaching darkness. Kandor had always been methodical and steadfast in the face of conflict, a cool head even under duress, but this eliminated one front of the battle entirely which he hadn't fully realized he'd been fighting. There were no alarm bells going off in the back of his kovid, no echoes of Marc's warnings. Either that meant Marc was still maintaining his silence, or he realized how much stronger Mirdala was making Fett.

 

As they reached the porch Kandor held onto Mirdala's hand. There was no reason to hide what all her vode practically already knew. "Elek," he answered Viscount's question. "Got a lead for me?"

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

“Not quite. More of a way to hedge our bets and keep up appearances. You should go with him Mird’ika,” the spymaster intoned.

 

“So it will look more like I’m actually taking orders from Taen directly instead of operating independently under a loose mandate?” She concluded as she leaned against the rail.

 

“Indeed,” Viscount commended. “That and bringing him in the loop on what you suspect to be Sith activity within the sector. He may be able to point Kandor to some more resources to see if we can dig up some other puzzle pieces while you’re away.”

 

TeVerd had wondered out of the house, just catching the tail end of the conversation. “I’ll meet you at the spaceport. Just make sure you’ve got your go-bag packed as I instructed and I’ll take care of it.” Apparently trusting that the kids had things well-in-hand, he walked off in the direction of where they’d been keeping the various ships and craft they were beginning to accumulate, no doubt to prep something for him and Mirdala to take.

 

“It’s decided then,” Mirdala remarked with a nod.

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

 

Briia smiled at the two of them as they showed up outside of Taen’s office and waved them in. It seemed as though Taen had known they were coming and had let Briia know to send them in as soon as they’d arrived.

 

“It’s good to see you whole again after seeing the reports from your last engagement, Constable, “ he began formally causing Mirdala to raise an eyebrow and glance at Kandor.

 

“Thank you, sir.” She returned, as she heard the door click in to place behind them. As the two of them sat down, she saw him pull a device out of his desk and activate it. From her time around TeVerd and Viscount, she knew it to be a jamming device, or screamer. She raised her eyebrow at him. “Something going on? More than is already being investigated.” Mirdala noted that he seemed more agitated than she’d seen him in a long time.

 

He looked back at her, echoes of his facial markings barely visible. “Just having to consider some extremely disconcerting possibilities based on evidence. I understand that you and Pren will be pursuing additional avenues of investigation off-planet?”

 

Mirdala nodded, growing more than a little concerned with Taen’s demeanor. “Yes, and we’ll be leaving this afternoon. I understand the paperwork has already been filed?”

 

“Your partner has seen to that and you know it,” he remarked perhaps a bit more curtly than he’d intended.

 

Mirdala gauged him for a minute, not sure if he knew of TeVerd’s survival or not. “There’s something else you should know. With Fieyr involved, I was left with little choice,” she began. “Since it’s a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ the two of us meet up again. I’ll be damned if he’ll get the better of me, of us, next time.” She’d corrected herself because she knew she wouldn’t be facing Fieyr alone again, that Kandor would be at her side to have her back in that fight.

 

“You found someone fool enough to teach you the Seeker skill set.” From the way his mouth twitched she knew it wasn’t welcome news. “Despite our conversations about the subject,” he held his hand up to still the protest he could already see forming. “It’s your decision, Mird’ika. Just promise me it’s someone we can trust. I know you learned a hard lesson with Fieyr when you were a teenager, but bear in mind he had to learn from someone as well. Who is it?"

 

Mirdala stiffened at the reminder and the admonition. “I’m learning from someone that Hwulf trusted enough to call on when needed to ensure my safety a time or two."

 

“That Rhys fellow, then?”

 

Mirdala looked back at him, but didn’t answer. He opted, more for his own peace of mind than anything else, to take her silence as assent.

 

“Tresha figured it was only a matter of time,” he sighed. “You’ve got more of TeVerd in you than we all feared then. Good for you, bad for our enemy. Just promise me one thing, Mird’ika,” he raised his finger as though to punctuate the request. “Find something beyond that hunt, otherwise it can destroy you the way it did TeVerd.”

 

Mirdala’s jaw clenched and she looked towards Kandor in the seat beside her, meeting his eyes before turning back to Taen, “I think you know that I have."

 

Taen looked at Kandor levelly and nodded, closing the subject for now, just as there was a knock on the door. “Come,” he commanded.

 

A moment later, the Twi’lek woman stuck her head in the door. “Sorry to interrupt, but Pren said that he’s waiting on you to depart, Mirdala.”

 

“We were just finishing up, Briia.” Taen said with a nod to Mirdala. He waited until she’d shut the door again before he continued. “Safe journey, Mird’ika. Kandor, come see me after you see her off. I should have some more files for you."

[Moon Knight]

Kandor met Taen's look with an earnest expression on his face. "Will do," he said, then he and Mirdala departed. They had to talk about her theory from the previous night as well.

 

TeVerd and Mirdala were taking anonymous transport out to their training to avoid signalling to the most observers that they would be offworld. The training itself was not intended to be dangerous, but if they were traced there it could well be, given that they would be separated from the rest of the team. So it was a short trip away from the precinct and over to the Dawn spaceport nearby to see them off. There wasn't much infrastructure in the Mandalore sector, so there was no registered public transport system in place, but there were always freighter crews looking to make a little extra profit by taking on paying passengers, so it was easy to find someone who would hop them over to Vale without asking questions.

 

By the time they arrived TeVerd had already finished making the arrangements and sent them a docking bay number. The pilot was already warming the ship up, getting ready to leave when they reached it.

 

Kandor and Mirdala approached each other before she boarded. They both had their buy'cese on to again maintain a little bit of anonymity. They embraced, him looking down and her up so that their foreheads met and they could see past each other's visors and into each other's eyes. "Be careful out there," he said.

 

Truthfully though, he wasn't particularly worried about her being in danger on Vale. If things went well, it was him that was going to be at risk.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

“I promise to stay out of trouble. Koyaci her kar’ta, ” As much as she hated to, she broke away from him knowing that the freighter crew wasn’t going to wait around for any extended good-byes. Still, she captured his hands briefly, and gave them a squeeze before turning to join TeVerd who was waiting up the ramp.

---------

From across the bustle of the space port, a woman sitting at a tapcaf recorded video of the couple’s farewells to each other. She knew the one in the red, grey, black and gold armor to be of some interest to her employer and knowing she had a companion would be of great interest to him.

--------

 

Taen was still at his desk when Kandor returned. “Is she safely away then?"

[Moon Knight]

Kandor nodded to Taen, pulling off his buy'ce, then went straight to business. "What have you got for me?"

 

Taen gave him an appraising look, but it was half a cover to prepare himself for the conversation they were about to have. He hit a button on his desk. "Bring it in please, Briia," he said.

 

A moment later the Twi'lek entered carrying a small metal case and put it down on the desk and then stepped off to the side. Fett identified it as some sort of lockbox -- not unusual for physical evidence, but decidedly so for the type of files he expected to be receiving. It most likely meant that the files were not digital and thus considered too sensitive even to be stored on a server. "I don't have to tell you that this information doesn't leave this room," Taen told him, then looked expectantly at Briia.

 

The constable shifted on her feet. "Oh! Right... sorry sir," she said, then made her exit.

 

Once the door had closed, the Sector Protector unsealed the box by typing in a rather long sequence of digits and handed Kandor a few printouts of holos and a small projector with a few more scenes. "Eight years ago, Mirdala, Soresh, and Joreel Ordo comprised a training group under Constable Vrej Tk'rei here on Concord Dawn when they encountered a dark side cultist," he said. His voice was calm and formal, like he was giving a briefing, but Kandor noticed something subtle in his mannerisms. Taen seemed stressed, almost anxious. "Evidence points to him being a member of a cult called the 'Prophets of Fire'. They called for backup and engaged the dark sider. Tk'rei was killed, Joreel and Soresh were incapacitated, but Mirdala managed to take the demagol down before passing out until she was recovered. Officially, however, it was Tk'rei that killed the cultist before succumbing to his wounds."

 

Kandor nodded understandingly as he browsed the images. There was the scene of the incident from enough angles that he built a working model of it in his kovid. There was a jetii'kad in several of the images, no doubt having belonged to the dark sider. According to the report it had survived the battle but was ordered destroyed afterward. He was surprised to hear the name of Joreel Ordo, though. The man had been the Mand'alor before Ahzinger and had begun the campaign that Kandor had ended when Vihk passed the title to him. He did not have a high opinion of him. But it didn't matter presently to the case.

 

"Mirdala told me about this incident," he said. "In fact, she noticed last night that the Seekers started disappearing almost immediately after the encounter. It could be a coincidence, but what if the dark sider she encountered wasn't actually a member of the cult, but a dar'jetii, and his death was the catalyst for what's been happening ever since?" The presence of a jetii'kad sort of reinforced that idea -- cultists wouldn't necessarily have the expertise to create such a weapon.

 

Taen had a deadly look on his face. "We need these moles gone." The Sector was at substantial risk until the leak was plugged. And not only did they not have a solid lead yet, but he was beginning to suspect it was someone within his inner circle, or even multiple individuals in such positions. It reinforced his reasons for bringing Fett in, but it meant that he couldn't really trust anyone... and if he did, he could unwittingly contribute to the deaths of more of his people, of his aliit, and of the Seekers. He had a bad feeling that this was going to get ugly before it got fixed.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Sighing, “Her instincts have proven in the past to rarely be wrong, I’m afraid.” He rose from his desk and crossed to the window processing his thoughts for several minutes before a knocking on the door interrupted them. Giving a low growl he crossed to the door and opened it swiftly as he barked, “What is it?” to a very shocked Briia.

 

“S-sorry to interrupt, sir,” she blanched, “But I’ve got a priority call from Vorpa’ya from a Mr. Morveth…he wouldn’t be related to my old commander Daennan, would he?"

 

Taen looked at her, his mind working on why Daennan’s husband, a hunter, would be contacting him. “Just put it through to my desk,” he said gruffly. “And yes, he is."

 

She nodded, not seeming phased in the least by his harshness. As his long-time assistant, she understood everything that landed on his shoulders and knew him well enough to know none of his rancor was ever personally directed at her.

 

“If you’ll excuse me Kandor, I need to take this. Zarek wouldn’t use that channel unless it was a dire emergency."

[Moon Knight]

"Of course," Kandor said, excusing himself.

 

He found Briia lingering in the hallway. "Daennan and Zarek Morveth?" he asked the Twi'lek. "Any idea what this is about? Or Vorp'aya, for that matter?" He thought that was another world in the Mandalore Sector that he'd never visited.

 

Let's hope it has to do with the case, he thought.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Briia shook her head, causing her blue head tails to ripple from the motion. "Daennan was our camp commander in training. She and Taen go way back. She retired after our training cycle to be with her family on Vorpa'ya. I can't think of any reason Zarek would have called like this, unless something was really, really wrong." She bit her lip and looked at the door just as a loud crash was heard. 

 

Several people's heads glanced in the direction of Taen's office, but quickly returned to their tasks as the door opened and he appeared just briefly enough to gesture Kandor back into the office. "You too Silvar."

 

Briia nodded once and led the way back into the office. 

 

Several data slates and one of the weapons racks lie on the floor. Taen nodded as he stepped back behind his desk, leaning heavily against the polished wood surface. "Close the door." His voice was gruffer than before and his eyes were glowing.

 

He waited until Kandor had done as asked before he spoke, "Morveth has been murdered. You two are heading to Vorpa'ya to hunt."

 

Briia's brow furrowed, "Why isn't Protector Bialle handling this?"

 

"Because Daennan was found with her throat slit in his kitchen and all signs point to his hasty exit."

 

"You'll need a ship. Take the one you and Mirdala came on. You'll find my sister's been busy with its refit."

[Moon Knight]

Fett processed this new information silently. Taen had just lost an old friend, which was bad enough, but it seemed like another Protector was to blame. A rogue officer was bad in any police organization, but Journeyman Protectors had a lot of power, including the authority to render a verdict and carry out a sentence autonomously. This meant that the force put a lot of trust in them -- and usually that they were deserving of it before being stationed in the field somewhere. A rogue Protector could thus do a lot of damage to the organization, both to its members and to its reputation.

 

The silver lining, he supposed, was that it was possible that Bialle was the leak, and hunting him down could stop the flow of classified data to his true employers. Assuming, of course, that there was only one mole. He'd known there was a good chance this would get ugly before it got better. Now it was time to k'atini and deal with it.

 

Kandor looked at Briia. "Get your things, we'll leave right away," he said. He put on his buy'ce as she hurried off and looked at Taen. His voice was like ice. "We'll find him."

 

Minutes later he met the Twi'lek back in the lobby. She'd grabbed a small bag of essentials and was juggling a couple last-minute additions as well as her besbe'trayce. "Slow down," he told her, taking something off her hands to free her up to get sorted. "We're behind Bialle by hours, it's worth thirty seconds to make sure you're set."

 

Briia nodded. "Thanks," she said with an apologetic look, strapping her blaster pistol around her waist as they headed out the doors and back to the airspeeder he'd been using to get from the farm into Dawn each day. He watched her finish getting organized and handed her back the item, trying to get another read on her now that he'd be partnered with her on a hunt. She usually seemed a bit absent-minded, but he had also seen times when she applied herself earnestly to a task and pulled well beyond her weight. He thought they would work fine together if he could help ground her so she could put to good use her decade of experience in the Protectors which granted her insight into how they operated that Fett would desperately need to find one of their officers who'd decided he'd rather not be found.

 

He pointed the speeder towards Vannae's shop where Tracyn's HWK-290 would still be and placed a couple calls. First he called Rhys to inform him that he and Briia were heading to Vorp'aya on a manhunt for Taen and that he would need his beskar'gam and full kit, asking that he have someone bring it to the shop -- he had no idea what kind of situation he would find nor when he would be able to return to Concord Dawn for it. Then he called ahead to the Ad'Nort to let her know they were coming and would need the ship to be ready to go.

 

By the time they arrived, Vannae had the ship already prepped. Kandor took a moment of the striking part-Arkanian woman's time to review what she had done, since he and Mirdala had spent a day getting familiar with it back on Enigma what seemed like ages ago. She'd not only managed to get the systems recalibrated and replaced anything that needed it after sitting idle for years, she'd managed to tune it well beyond its factory specs. The besbe'trayce would have a bit more punch, the engines could be pushed past their old stops, and even the karbakar was up a few fractions past lightspeed. To top it all off, she'd managed to find time to install a better information suite than it'd had before.

 

"Taen wasn't kidding, you've been busy," Kandor told her. "Vor'e for the effort, we may just find ourselves putting her through her paces."

 

Soon after Vy'ika arrived with Fett's armor and loaded it onboard -- he would get suited up en route -- and Fett and Briia set off for deep space, finally getting a moment to collect their thoughts. "Maybe you should fill me in on everything you know about the Morveths and Baille..." he said to the Twi'lek as the navicomputer finished calculating the mercifully short in-sector jump.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Aliise and his father were waiting for them at the space port when the HWK-series ship touched down. Briia was the first down the ramp and into his waiting arms. “How are you feeling? I got your message to your mother and she’s been pretty worried about you.”

 

“Sore, but otherwise fine. I guess I better go see my mother or she won’t quit bugging us with her fretting,” she sighed walking with him back to his speeder. “See ya around Kandor.”

 

Rhys waited until the two of them had left before commenting. “I’m afraid things are just getting started in regards to the internal issues with the Protectors. Several others have now openly gone rogue and are creating quite the headache.” He waved Kandor towards the transit where Vi’ika was waiting as he continued, not wanting to remain in the square long.

 

The sand hound gave a low woof when she saw that Mirdala wasn’t with him before laying down in the backseat to pout. “Don’t mind her, she’s just moody because you didn’t bring Mirdala back with you.” Vi’ika gave another bark, this one a bit more indignant than the first.

 

“Before you ask, no she’s not back yet. What you weren’t told, and what she didn’t know, was that the training she’s undergoing will be closer to a month and a half to complete. It’s intensive and rigorous and not the kind you want to half-way do or rush through. We probably won’t know they’re back until they show up. This news about this bounty on her specifically is worrisome."

[Moon Knight]

Kandor pulled off his buy'ce as they took the speeder back to the steading. "It's not a Guild bounty, and I couldn't find anything about it on any of my old channels," he said. He'd spent a substantial amount of time over the last couple days trying, too. "A price on her head though does seem to support her theory about what started all of this."

 

He paused for a moment. "Something I didn't mention on my report. That man, Judyc Viba, was the same one that brought the complex down on us on Abraxos." He almost mentioned the Kyr'tsad's odd interest in Fett, but didn't really have anything to base a theory off of. Fett had enough of a reputation and being Mand'alor meant that a lot of people would have their own reasons to research his background. He could speculate that maybe there was an old enemy under that mask, someone like Rane Scando or a Greyjoy or something. But Viba had seemed to be trying to warn him away, and he had fled instead of trying to capitalize on the best opportunity he'd had in their encounter to get the upper hand.

 

It didn't help that he had that nagging sense in the back of his mind that he'd heard or seen the name before. Unfortunately, something from his childhood or one of the many past Moon Knights started to blend together enough that he really had no hope of placing it except through further contact with the man. Which would be easier if they weren't trying to kill each other.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Rhys’s mouth twisted as he considered the development. During Fett’s absence, the others that had remained continued to chase leads of their own, a task that had grown more complicated in the wake of what had happened within the Protector ranks. “True. I’ve get to see that girl’s instincts fail her. I just wish she wasn’t so potentially right about this, though the evidence keeps compounding in her favor,” he paused, turning to glance at the man beside him. "You didn’t mention Fieyr being with him. No word on where he disappeared to?”

[Moon Knight]

"Nayc," he answered. "No sign of him and nothing from CoreSec channels about picking him up."

 

The two nearly-identical men lapsed into silence for the remainder of the trip back to the steading. Kandor found that most of the team had left -- Viscount and Vy'ika were the ones who had remained with Rhys to continue sorting out the data they had from the Abraxos raid. The day on Concord Dawn was still young, and though Fett hadn't slept in a while, he had some things that couldn't wait. After quickly touching base with the team, he headed in to Dawn to give his full report to Taen.

 

With Bialle dead, Kandor's original mission was complete, even with the chaos of other sleeper agents being activated. Taen met with Fett, debriefed him, and then released him for the time being, though Fett left him with an open offer to help out as needed while he was on world.

 

And on world Kandor intended to remain for the duration of Mirdala's training. A significant part of him considered resuming his work in the core for a time, but the longer he was away from CoreSec, the more convinced he was becoming that he would never return. He was not and never truly had been a law enforcement officer. For now, however, he delayed tendering his formal resignation. He had an idea beginning to form of what he would do next from a career perspective, but it would take a significant amount of research and the resuscitation of some of his old contacts before it substantiated, and the Mando'ad didn't want to burn any bridges yet.

 

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

 

Over the next five weeks Kandor found a variety of pursuits to occupy his time. There was still plenty of data work to be done on the Abraxos fragments, and he contributed some time to that pursuit, though he had trouble keeping pace with the Omicrons on that pursuit. There was also opportunity for old-fashioned physical labor. The Mando'ade had never been a people to rely too heavily on beskar'ade to do their work for them, and it was harvest time on Concord Dawn. Kandor and the Omicrons were taking care of Soresh's steading and that included bringing in the crops.

 

What's more, he heard from the Ad'Norts on several occasions and made several visits to help out with their work as well. Only Laesha, Tannae and her riduur were around consistently, and with Tannae pregnant they were a little short handed, so Fett pitched in as needed. It was a sort of work that he hadn't done in... well, centuries before his lifetime, according to the Moon Knight memories. The work was more challenging physically than it required specific knowledge, however. He found himself happy to spend a little time with them, in many ways coming to appreciate and understand the influence they'd had over Mirdala in her youth.

 

Beyond those things, he found himself spending his evenings putting research into his personal project. In particular he spent time studying and familiarizing himself with various information brokers, multisystem governments, and large law enforcement organizations such as the Corporate Sector Authority, CorSec, the Journeyman Protectors, and FLEA. The studies were extremely preliminary and very broad, mostly supplementing and updating the already-extensive knowledge the various Moon Knights had gathered over the millennia. He spent many long evenings poring over data with 2277.

 

One night Kandor was studying the Hapes Consortium. This was one particular government that he had a very deep knowledge of through Isolder, who had been a prince of the Hamat system before his exile and eventual transformation into a Blademaster and Moon Knight. The political landscape was tremendously complex there and especially ruthless. Political assassinations were so common that they barely made the news, and it was not unheard of for politicians to arrange even for their own family members to be eliminated if it meant a better political standing for themselves. The Hapan people were also relatively isolationist -- not only had the culture been largely closed off from the Holonet until the formation of the Galactic Alliance, but they were physically difficult to reach due to the location of the Transitory Mists acting as a sort of veil guarding their 63-system political entity.

 

Still, news was coming out of it if one knew where to look, and Fett began using it to catch up on the current state of affairs. Most of it was incredibly dull, so far from the realm of what Fett involved himself in that he had 2277 provide him with summaries of the summaries that were being produced by Hapan journalists, merely trying to get a high-level view of the political climate so that he would have a jumping-off point should he ever need to return there.

 

But this night something of interest caught his eye. A name -- Ranos Thane -- that caused him to frown. Back in Isolder's day the man had been a notorious criminal kingpin. Because of the frequency of literal political backstabbing in the Consortium, there were certain opportunities for non-political entities to make truckloads of credits by distributing designated backstabbing knives and the killers who were trained to use them. Thane had cultivated the image of a doddering socialite for much of his life, when secretly he was the head of one such organization, a fact which Isolder himself had exposed during his rulership there. Infamously strict on criminals, Isolder had had the man thrown in prison with a life sentence, parole only to be granted in the most unusual of circumstances.

 

And yet, now Thane was not only out of prison, but apparently running for major political office. Already the assassinations of his political challengers for the position had begun, though reportedly he was under due scrutiny due to his past and so far no one had been able to link him to the killings.

 

Moon Knight found the whole situation distasteful. Isolder had thrown the book at him and had linked him to crimes even more extravagant than political assassination. He idly considered for a moment getting involved, putting to use some of Isolder's specific knowledge to do some good in the Consortium, but for now accepted that this was not the time to leave Concord Dawn, what with Mirdala returning so soon.

 

He closed down the holonet link for the night, realizing how much he missed her, then got some nuhoy so that he wouldn't be hating himself on the farm the next morning.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

She smiled to herself as she headed towards the barn, sending a signal to Vi’ika through their shared bond to remain quiet. Rhys had indicated Kandor was out in the barn fiddling with one of the harvest implements that had decided to fight back that morning before TeVerd had taken him aside to fill him in on the events over the last several weeks.

 

The sound of metal clanking, followed by a mild curse greeted her as she stepped into the open doorway of the barn to see Kandor’s legs peeking out from under the engine of one of a combine unit. Moving silently, she picked up one of the tools he had laying next to him. “Have you tried this one?” she said suddenly.

[Moon Knight]

Kandor poked his head out from under the combine and eyed the tool with a frown. "Haven't met the mechanic yet that can fix a ruptured fuel relay with a pair of hypershears," he lamented, dropping his hydrospanner in the pile.

 

He kept a straight face as he slid himself the rest of the way out, laying on a hand trolley he had retasked into a creeper to make the process easier. As he hauled himself to his feet, she found that he was dressed in work gear for a day in the sun and had gotten grimy with sweat and engine lubricant.

 

Fett studied Mirdala for a moment, then finally gave a smile. "I'm glad you're back in one piece," he said. SERE training could be rough, but none of the Moon Knights had ever endured one that was extensive enough to last 6 weeks. "Things are... more dangerous than ever in the Sector, not least of all for you."

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Her smile faded as she leaned against one of the worktables and regarded him for a moment as she picked up on the emotional signatures coming from the house. There seemed to be a lot of cool anger and a fair amount of worry with a drive to move forward, even if there was some disagreement on what that looked like.

 

"Found your mole, I take it?" Her voice was quiet and the inner warmth she'd felt at seeing him again was quickly replaced by the sense she'd been punched in the gut.

 

Vi'ika whined and nuzzled against her until Mirdala finally began to stroke the top of her head. "What happened, Kandor?"

[Moon Knight]

Kandor gave her an apologetic look as he saw her good spirits fade. "I didn't want to hit you with all of this right when you got back, but we might have to start acting on it pretty soon so there's no avoiding it," he said.

 

"Jurgen Bialle was a mole. Daennan Morveth must have gotten pretty close to figuring it out, because he murdered her and fled," he said, shooting for brevity and keeping his voice level like in a briefing. "Briia, Mica Ad'Selfort and myself picked up the trail on Vorpa'ya and followed him to Nar Shaddaa, where he had holed up with his Death Watch associate, a man named Judyc Viba. He was the one TeVerd fought on Abraxos, the one who brought the installation down on the team. Now Bialle is dead and Viba escaped again, but while I fought Viba he said some strange things."

 

Fett scratched his head absently. "He claimed that he was going to collect a bounty on your head, Mirdala, though we can't find any record of a public one. Seemed to be trying to warn me off, almost like we had some kind of shared history, but I have no idea who he could be under that buy'ce."

 

He leaned against the combine unit. "This all happened just after you left. Since then Taen's been having other problems, as more rogue Protectors have been surfacing... like their plan is moving into some kind of endgame as they try to cause as much damage as they can."

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

As he spoke, Mirdala could feel the rage build inside her at the news of Jurgen's betrayal and the murder of one of the trainers who'd helped get her back on track after her parents had been murdered. Morveth had been among those who'd answered Taen's call for help when Mirdala had been declared missing on Shogun. As much as the news had hurt her, she couldn't begin to imagine the state it had put her cousin in.

 

 

Hearing about yet another blow to her family angered her further and some of the smaller tools and parts began to rattle and lift from the table and floor around the barn. Closing her eyes, she took a few breaths to steady herself before her temper got the better of her and she inadvertently did something she would have regretted. As she bowed her head, the objects lowered back to their previous positions. It was several moments before she trusted herself to speak.

 

 

"Too many battles. Where to even begin?" She sighed as she ran her hand through her hair before pushing off from the table. "I'm going to change and come help you. My brain works better when I've got an engine to bang on. It'll give me some time to...settle."

 

 

Pausing as she exited the barn, she added, "You were right to get it out of the way. It's better to figure out a way to process and attack it than to dance awkwardly around the issue all night."

[Moon Knight]

He hid it well, but it alarmed Kandor when loose objects started to shake and lift as Mirdala struggled to control her anger. While he'd known about her Force sensitivity for some time, and he had seen her experience grief and anger both, never had her emotions caused her power to manifest in such a way to the extent of his knowledge. Little jetii-fed warning bells went off in the back of his head. She needs training... he thought. One session with Kitt Fitt on the Enigma and a few lessons from a holocron from Darkfire wouldn't cut it, not if her abilities were starting to become less latent. Although he knew her approach to her Force abilities was sound, her pragmatism didn't make her immune to the pull of the dark side.

 

Fett found himself more conservative on the issue than Isolder had been. Although the Blademaster had seen the dark side as a tool he was willing to draw upon in battle for the edge it gave him, too many times had it also nearly destroyed him. He would find an opportunity to bring it up, but only after she'd had time to deal with her new grief.

 

A few minutes she returned, dressed more practically for the job at hand, and together they rolled back under the machine, deciding to just take the whole pile of tools with them. Ultimately it turned out that something simple had broken -- the thermometer that was responsible for regulating the temperature of the larger system. As a result the whole machine had overheated with the mechanical brain none the wiser until the other problems started manifesting. Delicate metal parts expanded, blocking valves, rupturing their feeds as liquid built up, and yes, bursting a fuel relay.

 

"Tell me about your SERE training," he said while they worked, to make conversation and perhaps distract her a bit. "It was so long it must have been pretty intensive."