Concord Dawn

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Vannae laughed again, “Oh, I know. Dad had one for years. Pretty sure we rebuilt it more than a time or two, huh, Mird’ika?”

 

“Vannae is one of the primary reasons I was able to make the required modifications to the Justice,” Mirdala explained as another speeder came up with another near-human male at the helm dressed in forest green, weather-worn armor.

 

“Come on Runt! Food’s getting cold. Shift it!” he called.

 

Mirdala pursed her lips and spun to regard the new comer with her arms crossed. “Shove it Aluir!” She did wave Vi’ika towards the speeder though, before hopping in with the others and speeding off towards the Ad’Nort’s stead.

————

Several boisterous hours later Kandor had met what remained of the entire Ad’Nort clan.

 

Taen hadn’t joined them for either meal, but his three daughters and Reska had come for the evening meal.

 

Trita, the oldest of the girls, roughly seventeen, had recently returned to the sector from her apprenticeship with her Aunt Tresha, a quiet woman whose armor bore similar paint work to the massive set that he’d seen delivered to Mirdala.

 

Edra and Elesha, Taen and Reska's identical six-year-old twins were rather quiet as well, and reminded him a lot of their father in their mannerisms and demeanor.

 

All three girls favored their mother in looks, but he could tell from the short fur that they were unmistakably Taen’s as well. The twins seemed especially interested in who Mirdala was, considering they’d never met her, but only heard of her in passing from their aunts and uncle. Mirdala had told him they had the same green eyes that her uncle Hwulf had.

 

Aluir, for his part, seemed to delight in trying to get a rise out of his younger cousin. Vannae had clued Kandor into the long-standing rivalry between Aluir and Mirdala that went back far into their childhoods. He’d also returned to a constableship, same as Mirdala had, but his was more in line with keeping the home guard up rather than competing with Mirdala.

 

Kandor had found Tresha, a human woman older than Aluir, but much younger than Vannae, to be something of a calming influence on Mirdala. It was obvious that the two of them were quite close. He didn’t miss the concerned look on her face when she first saw her cousin. Tresha was also a beroya, he’d found out through the course of dinner conversation.

 

Tannae was the only sister, it seemed, that had opted for the more quiet life of a farmer with her new husband. Her husband wasn’t able to be there for the meal, considering their farm was on the opposite side of the planet, but when Laesha had known Mirdala was coming home she’d arranged to have her daughter come stay for a bit. The doctor-side of her may also have wanted to see how she was doing with her first pregnancy as well considering Tannae was one of the three that she’d given birth to of the family and the hybrid compatibility could be tricky at best sometimes.

 

Valyin, as Kandor had learned through the course of dinner conversation, was the baby of the family at eighteen and already doing decently for herself as a beroya.

 

Laesha, an Arkanian-offshoot, had welcomed him to her home with a hug as well, thanking him for helping see Mirdala safely back to them. She’d also spent most of the day offering him and Mirdala almost every kind of food she had on hand or had prepared.

 

Finally the Ad’Nort brood had wound down with Reska and her girls leaving for home, Vannae for the apartment above her shop, Aluir for the opposite end of the property where another small house was kept.

 

After dinner Tresha had motioned for Kandor to follow her while Mirdala helped Laesha clean up the kitchen.

 

She lead him outside and down a small path in the woods where a creek called quietly into the night. “I apologize, Kandor,” she began, “I’m not quite sure my family knows what quiet is, at least not when there are more than two or three of us together at a time. I remember it took me some adjustment and it was just really Aluir at the time. I was a battlefield adoption, like Mird’ika recently she found out she was. Aluir was as well. It’s chaos, but its ours.” She gestured to the land around them.

 

“I figured you could use a moment’s peace before your mind starts working on whatever problem you’ve come to help her with. I know why she came home. The real reason, not just to help with the Seeker investigation.” She turned to meet his eyes in the growing dusk. “She still seeks her parents’ murderers."

[Moon Knight]

Kandor was pretty sure there were two Ad'Norts for each Moon Knight. Some of them even seemed to have names that were deliberately confusing, like Tannae and Vannae. Slowly over the course of the day he worked out who everyone was and formed a mental web of how they all related to each other. The saying aliit ori'shya tal'din was very strong here -- there were several adoptions and, near as he could tell, there was no discernible relational connection between Mirdala and any of these people, even had Mirdala not also been adopted, since he knew Jorbe Ad'Goran was human and had no Ageless blood. Something he would have to ask about soon. While the saying was true for the Mando'ade, he was rather curious about how it all came to be.

 

He gave a conscious effort to be friendly to everyone, but slowly withdrew over several hours, clearly out of his element. There was so much shared history among this aliit, so much social context, that being able to engage in more than light conversation was an epic challenge that he found more difficult than diving headlong into Arach'tar forces to contest control of Centerpoint Station had been.

 

When the crowd started to disperse and Tresha pulled him aside, he had to admit he was relieved. "I've been on battlefields that were quieter," he joked. "But in a way I envy having a place like this to unwind." When he was alone, he had to deal entirely with himself; there was nothing but his own thoughts to determine his outlook, his mental state. But others, especially a houseful of them, could change those things instantly, whether through solidarity or by playing off each other. It had a way of putting him at ease, taking his mind off the problems that he would have to solve the next day.

 

Still, he transitioned smoothly to talking about business when prompted. "Taen rightfully denied putting her on that case," he said, "but I spoke alone with him and he was more receptive to opening the case files up to me. I haven't gotten a chance to look at them yet, just trying to get on top of the game.

 

"Maybe you can clear something up for me related to that," he said. "Near as I can tell Jorbe and Cyare weren't related to you Ad'Norts at all, not even by adoption, is that right? Mirdala has talked somewhat about how she was brought up, but I think I'm missing the connection between the Ad'Gorans and your aliit."

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Tresha laughed. “I take it your family wasn’t nearly as big or as boisterous?”

 

She sat down in the grass next to a tree that was growing near the stream and rested her back against the trunk and looked up in between the branches. “She was a JP long enough to know that it never would have been her case to have or see. To be honest,” she looked back at him, “I’m surprised he even let you have it…”

 

Recovering Mirdala had been a difficult mission at best, and Taen had gotten the brunt of her feral fury. They’d reported she’d had a pair of TeVerd’s crushgaunts to explain the damage she’d done to his neck seal using the Force.

 

“The connection you seek is in the man that died with my father, TeVerd,” her tone was suddenly guarded and she sat up slightly. “She hasn’t told you about him? How much has she told you about us?”

[Moon Knight]

It took Fett a moment to decide how to respond. "I know TeVerd was very important to her," he said. "That he trained her and was like an ori'vod to her on Shogun. She told me about the Seekers of which both he and your buir were members. That could explain his connection to Hwulf and your aliit but not to Jorbe and Mirdala. As for the rest of you, well, I had an idea that she had a lot of relatives but I think bringing me here was her way showing rather than telling."

 

Kandor hoped he hadn't said too much by speaking about the Seekers. He wasn't certain how much the Ad'Norts would appreciate Mirdala telling him about what seemed a closely guarded family secret, not when they hadn't had time to get to know him like she had. But he decided that honestly was probably the best foundation on which to build his interactions with Mirdala's aliit.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Tresha regarded him for a moment, her dark brown eyes appearing almost black in the dimming light. "The two of them were so closely bonded it was nearly impossible to tell where one's signature began and the other ended..." Her already soft-spoken voice grew quieter as she glanced back towards the house.

 

"I've never asked the details of how he got involved and the only people that know have left for the Manda," she sighed sadly. "I remember it shocking my parents though. TeVerd was never the type to develop close attachments with people, let alone a human child. It doesn't matter how it happened, really. She's no less my family than if my dad had adopted her."

 

Turning back to the stream, she lapsed in to silence as she considered what she'd seen of the man before her as the cool night breeze blew across the fields bringing with it the scent of the late summer wheat and wildflowers.

 

Mirdala had to have a high level of trust in him for her to have told him about the Seekers and their identities, let alone to bring him here.

 

"How did you and Mird'ika become partners? She didn't speak to any of us for close to seven years, so you'll have to forgive our curiosity."

[Moon Knight]

Kandor supposed that was about as good an answer as he would get, at least without asking Mirdala. A bond had somehow formed between Mirdala and TeVerd and not even the Ad'Norts were aware of why; then TeVerd's close empathic bond with Hwulf brought her and her buire together with his aliit. It was a tenuous link for most cultures, but it was a fine foundation upon which to build a clan of Mando'ade. No one had ever accused them of being impractical.

 

"At the end of the war Mirdala and I both joined a Republic special ops task force cobbled together by a jetii with minimal oversight from Admiral Starlisk," he explained when prompted about the origin of his and Mirdala's partnership. He wondered if they even cared about the wars of arue'tiise out here. He considered them too big to ignore, especially when the Arach'tar invaded, but Concord Dawn may have completely escaped notice. "We fought together a couple times there then went our separate ways, but when Tracyn died and she put together what happened she asked me to help her take gra'tua on his murderers, who happened to be old enemies of mine." He shrugged. "We got to talking and found we got along alright so we joined CoreSec and remained partners."

 

He studied Tresha's face, wondering if she suspected how their relationship had evolved over time. He didn't really consider it any of her business at this point, in any case. "Bad things have happened to both of us since then and she got me out of quite the jam recently, so the least I could do was follow her here and help make sense of things."

 

Fett gave a slight smile. "So forgive me if I get a bit nosy, I always hated working with half a picture."

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

“I know.” She answered cryptically, which could have meant anything from knowing on some level about what Mirdala had been through to what was developing between them that moved beyond the traditional bounds of battle partnership. She had raised an eyebrow at the mention of Mirdala actively working with a Jedi, but that was the only real reaction he’d gotten out of her.

 

“Most of us in the profession do,” she returned his smile with an enigmatic one of her own. “To be honest, I think I’d question your motives more if you weren’t at least a bit curious about who your partner really is. You’d likely think us remiss if we weren’t just as curious about the man she’s brought home with her during such times. None of us ever met Tracyn.”

 

"There you are!" Mirdala said as she and Vi'ika emerged from the wooded path before Kandor could respond to Tresha. "I'd wondered where you'd gotten to."

 

"I figured he could use a break. You know, get a chance to actually hear his own thoughts? Didn't see fit to warn him about the small army Buir was raising?" Tresha teased as Vi'ika jogged past her to sit at Kandor's feet.

 

"He already had to endure one lecture from Taen, don't tell me you gave him one too." Mirdala fixed her similarly featured cousin with a suspicious look.

 

"If Vi'ika likes him, I guess we don't have to kill him..."

 

Mirdala rolled her eyes. "And you're supposed to be the nice one..."

 

“No,” Tresha corrected her. “I’m Udesla, the Quiet One. If you're going on a ghost-hunt you need an interpreter since not all of us are empaths.” She tilted her head in Kandor’s direction.

 

“I expected Taen to have better discretion,” Mirdala folded her arms and glanced at Kandor, still unaware that he had the case files she’d been wanting. She did raise an eyebrow at Tresha sharing her full code name in front of Kandor. Whatever the two of them had been talking about, he’d managed to earn more than a bit of her trust and respect.

 

“You’re not that hard to read, Mird’ika. Not from me and especially when you’re out of practice,” the other woman’s voice was gentle. “You knew what Taen was going to do, even before you asked. If you’re willing to go through with it, we can talk about that day to see if what you remember. It’s better than nothing.” Tresha glanced at Kandor, pursing her lips slightly as if to let him know that his secret about the files was safe with her. “It’s either that or I want to know how that lead on BakToid you had panned out. Your pick.”

 

“They both lead to the same dark road,” Mirdala grumbled as she knelt to retrieve her father’s knife from her boot sheath, stabbing it into the ground between the three of them. “They had this, as well as Carid’s armor."

 

Tresha’s head rose sharply and she leaned forward to examine the knife in the dimming light of the day. Her eyes flitted to both Mirdala’s hip where hers rested and to Kandor’s where one that was done in the same style, but not one of the original three she’d watched Mirdala craft when they were much younger. There were only two others she knew that it could be - TeVerd’s or - “Jorbe’s…”

 

Mirdala swallowed and nodded grimly. “I have no clue where TeVerd’s is, likely lost in the galaxy somewhere.” It was a partial truth, she didn’t know where TeVerd was, but knew that he still had her knife with him and was quite unwilling to part with it. She felt guilty about having to keep his survival from the Ad’Norts, but if his enemies thought him dead, it was better to limit the knowledge of his continued breathing to those that needed to know.

 

“Oh, Mird’ika,” Tresha said gently as she embraced the younger woman. “There’s nothing you could have done anymore than we could. Don’t feel guilty…"

 

Mirdala returned the hug, “I know. I just regret leaving the way I did."

 

“You’re here now and that’s what matters,” Tresha released her and turned back to Kandor. “You sure you’re ready to go down this jakrab hole?"

[Moon Knight]

Jorbe's beskad'ika certain had a way of winding several mysteries tightly together. It meant that BakToid, a company with strong ties to the Sivaara family, was connected somehow to both the deaths of the Seekers and Mirdala's buire, assuming that Carid hadn't been carrying Jorbe's knife for some reason when he was killed. He understood why this was driving her crazy... some of the answers might lead to others, if they could just find a few critical pieces of information that would light the way.

 

Kandor nodded at Tresha. "I know too much already, there's no way I can back out," he answered, then turned to Mirdala. "Answers about the Seekers may lead to answers about Jorbe and Cyare. I know you organized the raid on BakToid due to a chip you found in TeVerd's buy'ce... but what do you remember about the day your buire were kyrayc, as well as the days leading up to it? I hope it's not too painful to talk about it."

 

Truthfully he wanted to compare her memories to the case files once he had the chance to look at what Taen had given him. He felt a little bit guilty not telling Mirdala straight out what he'd been given access to, especially since she wanted the information for very good reasons. But he'd told the Sector Protector he'd keep it under wraps until it became important for equally good reasons. He just couldn't guarantee how Mirdala would react at this point, so he'd bide his time for now and see how things panned out. Tresha, at least, seemed to be willing to do the same.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Mirdala sat down next to Tresha and took a deep breath as she pulled her knees close to her chest. “This is what I remember from that day. I woke up, helped mom with breakfast - It was just the three of us. I remember being upset that TeVerd had left before my verd’goten and hadn’t returned like he’d promised.

 

“I had an argument with my father about him abandoning me. Stupid teenager stuff, looking back on it. I ran into the woods to get some space and clear my head.” Her brow furrowed and she began to worry her lower lip. Why can’t I remember why Tey was even off-planet? She shook her head trying to clear the cobwebs.

 

Tresha took her hand, sensing her frustration. Mirdala’s memory had always been quite sharp and she wondered why her cousin was having issues recalling details about TeVerd’s whereabouts. Not wanting to interrupt, she looked up at Kandor and nodded, hoping he’d know to come back to this once Mirdala had finished speaking.

 

“I didn’t come back until it was just starting dark - dusk, I think.” Mirdala continued. "Cabur was with me. I saw a ship flying low towards the stead. Something felt off the closer I got to home and when I arrived I saw eight uniformed men. Two had my mother on her knees at blaster point and two were bringing my father from his workshop and the rest were tearing thorough the outer buildings.” She closed her eyes, willing herself to remember all that she could.

 

“They were shouting in Basic, something about “stolen property”, “company property”…” she trailed off and her voice grew quiet.

 

"They were interrogating your parents about 'company property’?” Tresha, prodded her gently. She’d never really gotten to hear Mirdala’s account of events. Her grandmother, Tsikala had swept her way almost as soon as she’d physically recovered from surviving in the jungle for two weeks.

 

Mirdala looked at her cousin, her jade eyes a deep olive, but unfocused and distant. “Yes. That was what the whole thing was about, I think, because my father was genuinely confused since he hadn’t been outside the sector in over twelve years, though he didn’t say that to them. I got as close as I dared and froze. I couldn’t do anything as I watched them beat my mother before three of the men drug her in the house. Outside we could hear her screams and cries, and they beat my father too, but he kept insisting that he had no clue what they were talking about."

 

Tears began to form at the edge of her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. “I don’t know how long I stood there, completely frozen, unable to save them. My mother continued screaming, then they dragged my father off to his workshop and then his screams finally matched hers. I remember there was blaster fire, then they brought him back out and forced him to watch while they locked my mother in the house and set it on fire. It took six of them to hold him back from the house. He was already bleeding pretty badly, I’m pretty sure that they stabbed him a lot, but there was a horrible smell like they’d heated whatever it was on the forge first…”

 

Her stomach roiled and she pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to settle her bodily reaction to the memories. “They’d branded him too, one of their badges on his face."

 

Tresha drew her closer and rested her head against Mirdala’s like she had many times when they were younger, radiating calm and comfort through their shared empathic bond.

 

She took a few steadying breaths. “Vor’e.” There were few more moments as she continued to draw herself away from the experience, “I guess I must have cried out, because Cabur lunged at them as they shot my father. They killed Cabur. I don’t remember anything after he was killed. He was all I had left of TeVerd at the time.”

 

“My next clear memory was waking up at the Ad’Norts, a little over two weeks later."

[Moon Knight]

Fett wasn't quite sure who Cabur was, but he was certain the files would make that clear and it seemed peripheral to what had happened. His first thought regarding 'stolen property' was that they might have been looking for Mirdala herself. It fit the clues -- Jeni'cera Sivaara, the subject of experimentation by a rather heartless family, might have been seen as a sort of property to them. If they'd hired enough people to track her whereabouts, assuming they kept looking for well over a decade, they could have eventually tracked her to Jorbe and took his beskad'ika after they'd killed him. Jorbe probably had known about the experimentation, however, given that he had seen fit to rescue Mirdala in the first place, so if he had denied knowing what the attackers were after he had most likely been protecting Mirdala, not actually unaware.

 

The Journeyman Protectors' data on the incident could strengthen or weaken the hypothesis, but he doubted it was something Mirdala hadn't already thought of herself.

 

At any rate, he picked up on the hint from Tresha. "You said TeVerd was gone at the time," he said. "That was unusual, wasn't it? And their badges... have you identified their organization, or at least the organization they were pretending to be?"

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Mirdala's brow furrowed as she looked from Kandor to Tresha. "Not at that time..." Her tone was hesitant. "Something had happened that had made him have to leave. Something he'd had to deal with, personally, I think. But I know he was gone longer than he should have been. That's why I was so upset."

 

She grew quiet for a moment before turning to Tresha, "Did your dad ever mention anything to you why he'd gone? Looking back and knowing what I do now about the Seekers, I would say it had something to do with that."

 

The other woman shrugged. "I remember asking about it when he didn't come or call just after we'd found you, but he wasn't really willing to get into it."

 

"I don't remember you mentioning the brand..." Tresha continued gently. "Do you know who it belonged to?"

 

Mirdala nodded. "Consolidated Security, but I know this manner of attack is far outside their SOPs. I had a chance to get close to them while on Corrie. They're far more subtle in their handiwork. More likely to make you disappear quietly in the night or stage an accident than to announce their presence with a bonfire and overt fly-by. It was someone wanting whoever found the bodies to think it was them though."

 

She shut her eyes and tried not to picture the image burned on her father's face. 

[Moon Knight]

ConSec, Fett thought. He recalled seeing the holo and Mirdala and Rale Sindak during her time on Triple Zero, and now he understood why. Shab, she probably could have made the same hypothesis that he had, which is why she'd chosen to spend some time with the Sivaaras there.

 

He asked his next question to Tresha. "How did Mirdala get back to your aliit when it was over? Were you one of the ones who retrieved her?

 

"It seems like the false ConSec gang wasn't very thorough. After they killed Cabur they must have known you were there, Mirdala," he continued, looking back at his traat'aliit'ad. "I'm not sure how you made it out unless the Ad'Norts were especially timely."

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

"She evaded search teams for nearly two weeks. Her favorite game was playing hide and seek in the jungle near her home, and TeVerd taught her well." Tresha said matter-of-factly. "If she didn't want to be found, no one, not even TeVerd could find her. They may have known, but their actions cost them the time they would have needed to track and find her."

 

Glancing at her cousin, she paused. None of the family had ever really spoken with her about what they knew of the incident or her recovery. This was likely as close as she'd get to reading the reports herself.

 

“We did go in with the initial fear that she had been taken. The local JPs tried to handle it, but the further they got into processing the scene the bigger they knew the case to be. Tikkel is a very small and remote village in a much wider area with only one Sargent and a two JP’s assigned to an area of roughly 270,000 square miles.”

 

"That's when they ran things up the chain through the Sector Protector assigned to Shogun who handed the case off to Taen. Reska, Dad, and I, along with some of the best trackers and hunters both in and out of the sector, took to the Shogunite jungles to find out if they had taken her or she'd escaped," she glanced down at Mirdala meeting the other woman's eyes. “Dad had called in the others because there was worry of a connection with Seekers. I can remember two of them being empathic, including the medic that checked you and Taen out.”

 

It was surreal to finally hear the other side of her missing memory. “What else do you remember Tresh? Do you know why TeVerd was gone?” Mirdala couldn’t help but wonder what other information could be uncovered.

 

The other woman looked at her, the confusion apparent on Tresha’s face. “I can understand why you wouldn’t remember after they killed Cabur and severed your empathic bond, but your memory has always been incredibly sharp, eidetic even. What’s happened?” Her tone was one of gentle concern.

 

Mirdala looked at Kandor, biting her lip and she knew that Tresha could feel her spike of anxiety. "My long-term memory retrieval isn’t what it was when we were kids and teenagers,” she began hesitantly. "It’s a recent development due to capture, torture, and involuntary drugging at the hands of slavers.” Having long abandoned her beskar’gam, she turned over her right forearm so she could see the scarred “L” that Lura had carved into her. “Something about the drugs killed certain neurological pathways and I haven’t consciously worked to repair the damage, since I don’t know what memories are missing until I try to remember them. What happened before TeVerd left is just one of them.”

 

Tresha pursed her lips, but didn’t immediately speak. “I don’t know the details, but I know that he left with Carid. Dad was really upset about it was well, but wouldn’t talk to us about it, so I guess it was some Seeker thing. The only time that I can remember feeling what I did is when we had to separate you from TeVerd after you’d decided to stowaway on one of his Seeker hunts when you were ten. My only guess is that someone got dangerously close to you again.”

[Moon Knight]

Kandor didn't like being reminded of the hideous trials the slavers had put Mirdala through any more than she did. She would likely bear the scars, both physical and psychological, for the rest of her life. He could remind himself that he had done all he could to track her down and kill the shabuire who had taken her, but it somehow didn't make it any better. The slavers' lives were worth nothing to him, and they could not be used to balance the equation of what had been done to her, nor was there any punishment he could put any one of them through that would repay them for their cruelty. He'd done the only thing he could have done -- make sure they could never repeat their crimes to another.

 

He gestured to Jorbe's knife. "Did you see them take the beskad'ika from your buir?" he asked. Then he figured he might as well ask the real question. "Do you think the same people are behind Carid's death and Jorbe's?"

 

Fett would have to be careful, of course. The knife could be a red herring, or even deliberately planted to cause them to draw a false conclusion.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

So many thoughts were swirling in Mirdala’s head that she couldn’t quite remember. Her frustration was apparent on her face and she shook her head, “I can’t remember." 

 

“Dika…It’s okay. Try closing your eyes,” Tresha said quietly using TeVerd's nickname for her. “Breathe."

 

Mirdala obeyed as Vi’ika strode over to offer her support in the effort. 

 

“Now think about where you’d gone to clear your head, where was it?” Tresha looked from her cousin to Kandor indicating that he should come closer. She’d seen her father use this technique on victims they’d helped while hunting. “I’ll guide you through, you’ll be fine. Kandor and I are here for you…” 

 

Vi’ika barked in protest at being left out. Tresha scratched the dog behind the ears. “Vi’ika too, of course.” She figured having another empathic hound around would help her cousin unlock the memory even easier than if it had just been the three of them. “Now let yourself remember, don’t fight so hard…"

 

Easier said than done, Mirdala thought as she relaxed against the tree and Tresha. “I was at the spring cave."

 

“Good. Now when did you start heading back? What made you go back?” Tresha said quietly. 

 

“I was hungry, plus it was getting late and I didn’t want my parents to worry. I wasn't as angry anymore..." Mirdala's voice had grown quiet as well as she allowed herself to sink deeper within the memories. She could also feel Tresha at her side, gently nudging her along. 

 

She had to be careful not to completely pull Tresha in as she had done in the sessions with Nek since doing so required her to utilize her Force abilities and that could lead whoever was tracking her right to the Ad'Norts. 

 

"Then what happened Mird'ika?"

 

"I saw a ship's shadow pass overhead and thought Tey was returning, so I ran home as fast as I could. The closer I got, I knew something was wrong because I heard shouting and Cabur pulled me back into the jungle.

 

"I shrugged him off, but crept closer using the underbrush for cover to get close enough to see the yard where they'd landed..."

 

Tresha guided her through the rest of what she could remember stopping at the point Jorbe had been brought out for one last look at his wife before being locked in the house. "I want you to freeze the image," she instructed. "Step away from yourself and look for your father's knife. Do you see it?"

 

Mirdala's breathing became more rapid and Tresha worked to calm her "You're safe. It's safe to look for it...this is a memory."

 

Thankfully the other woman's breathing became more regulated and she finally nodded. "Yes! The one that seems to be their leader has it on his belt. The handle is a little bloody, but he does have it!" 

 

"Is there anything else you remember that might help?" 

 

"He's about as tall as my dad, almost six feet...long greying hair that seems out of place for a real ConSec officer...late-middle age, but still has presence...dark eyes, cruel eyes..."

 

"Did they use names at all? Even aliases can help..." Tresha prodded.

 

Mirdala shook her head and opened her eyes. "That's all I can remember...they were careful not to use any..."

 

Tresha hugged her, causing Vi'ika to shift off of the petite woman's lap with a grumble. "You did fine. We have our answer about the knife."

 

Mirdala pulled back from her and faced Kandor. "If not the same people, related in some way at the very least..."

 

She rose, "I'm done for tonight. I'm too wrung out to be of any more use. Laesha said to tell you that the loft in the barn nearest the house is set up for you. Goodnight." 

 

She disappeared down the path with Vi'ika. 

 

Tresha hated seeing her cousin in pain, but it was necessary if Mirdala wanted the answers she's sought. "Hopefully that gives you something more to work with. I don't like how this particular puzzle seems to be fitting." 

 

"Is there anything else I can answer for you?"

[Moon Knight]

When Mirdala stood to leave, Fett shut off the recording he'd been taking by hitting a button on the unfamiliar kom'rk he was wearing. At least, he hoped it was making a recording. It would be important to be able to play it back when he was reviewing the other case files Taen had provided. "Vor entye, Mirdala," he said to her retreating back. He knew he didn't need to thank her, she had shared willingly because she knew it would help. But she hadn't been forced to, and he appreciated her openness.

 

Kandor turned back to Tresha. "You've been tremendously helpful already," he said, almost envious of the empathic link the dala shared with Mirdala. "I'm going to look over the Protector case files, maybe see what else I can dig up." He winked at her and gestured at the house. "Vor'e again for getting me out of here."

 

He stood and headed off in the same direction Mirdala had, finding his way to the barn. She'd already made her way up into the loft area, but he remained below, finding a place in the corner where he would have what privacy the building could afford. He immediately put his buy'ce on and plugged Taen's data chip into it, confirmed that the recording he'd just made was successful, and started reading over the case details.

 

Damaged by Uhalu's men or not, Mirdala's memory was still pretty sharp -- or else there hadn't been much left for the Journeyman Protectors when they'd arrived. Kandor quickly confirmed that Cabur had been a sand hound, no doubt empathically sensitive and a sort of predecessor to Vi'ika. There was a statement from Mirdala herself, of course, and a few other notes, but nothing too illuminating. The holos attached at least showed him the layout of the steading, but that was about the most helpful thing. He rather hoped the more classified data Taen had promised to share at a later time was more useful. Although the Mando'ad didn't expect much, he did a few holonet searches. Stuff never really disappeared from the holonet, but it was still difficult to find news from 10 years prior on backwater Shogun. He did eventually find a note about the incident, but it had far less detail than the Protectors' report.

 

Grasping for leads and putting off nuhoy for now, he spent a little time brushing up on any public data about ConSec, BakToid, and the Sivaara family dated around the time of the killing, trying to get a better feel for at least their public faces.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Sleep though wanted had not come easily for the emotionally wrought woman, but it eventually found her. Thankfully the static of the family around her would help shield her in a way she hadn’t been since leaving Coruscant.

 

Tonight she dreamed of fire and flame, as it threatened to consume her the way it had her mother and the way it had Hwulf worlds away on Abraxos. What was strange about this flame is that she felt no heat to it yet she felt it moving through and around her.

 

Struggling to make sense of what she was seeing she tried to defend herself as things began to move backwards. Suddenly, from the flame’s shadows a figure emerged and a cruel laugh echoed through her mind. She turned to try to get a better look at the large figure who did not seem to match the feminine sound that was still reverberating somewhere in the distance.

 

Something shifted and she felt herself falling and Tresha’s words echoed in her mind.

 

Someone got dangerously close to you again...

 

She was once again in the jungles of her home, but not in the area she’d expected. She was out by the spring cave deep on the Ad’Goran’s property and she was alone with someone. Someone who was like her and one she’d trusted as her friend.

 

She watched the events unfold as a bystander as her barely thirteen-year-old self tried to make sense of what was unfolding.

 

“Fie’ika, what are you doing?” she glanced up at him, not quite sure what to make of his instant buzzing.

 

“Nothing you need worry about Mird’ika,” he said sweetly as he moved closer to her practicing what he remembered from a conversation with an Ageless he'd encountered during a layover after one of his solo hunts.

 

She rose and began to try to move away from him, suddenly not quite sure why her body wasn’t obeying her commands. A chill went through her as her mind screamed at the familiarity of the feeling, though, she suspected, the source was different, and more powerful than the demogolka’s had been.

 

He felt her spike of fear and used it against her to delve deeper within her frail, human mind as he moved closer making sure to cut off her ability to scream to TeVerd or Carid.

 

A human teenage boy and training partner, Soresh Delavvo entered the glade with her hound, Cabur, in tow.

 

At his side, Mirdala's sandhound, began snarling, hackles raised as he advanced on the Ageless-hybrid, determined to protect his partner.

 

Soresh shook his head, confused. He was feeling off balance at an animal level, and it made him uncertain what was going on. Shaking himself out of his funk, he started walking towards the trio, hands up in a warding gesture.

 

"Hey, Fieyr, whatever you're doing, you need to stop. You're ticking off Cabur and Mird'ika doesn't like it either, Buddy."

 

The taller teen wheeled to look at the interloping human as Cabur launched himself at the Ageless-hybrid, knocking him off-balance and breaking his concentration from trying to bulldoze his way past the walls of resistance he’d unexpectedly encountered in the young girl.

 

“Stupid mutt.” He refocused his energy in lashing her bonded hound into submission, smiling wickedly as it seemed to jar her as well as she tried to muster her strength again to fight him.

 

Mirdala cried out as she felt him lash Cabur and the large hound whined as the other ageless tried to block their bond. She managed to tackle him to the ground despite the screaming through going her mind.

 

Spurred to action, Soresh rushed over and grabbed at Fieyr, trying to get an armlock on the other man. He felt the small hairs on his neck prickle when a wicked growl cut thrugh the trees.

 

Fieyr bolstered his strength and managed to throw off Soresh as he suddenly refocused all his energy on trying to do the most damage possible to Mirdala because he knew his time was short. He picked her up from the ground, his eyes glowing a bright orange as he slammed her roughly against a tree, hoping the physical blow, coupled with his earlier attempt had worn her down enough for him to prove his point.

 

Somehow she still found the will and strength to fight him and she screamed in her own rage as she struggled against him as his hand closed around her throat, silencing her again.

 

He suddenly felt himself being flung backwards and it took him a moment to register that this imposter had another secret. She wasn't just an interloper to his birthright, she was some kind of abomination. He snarled in disgust as he lunged at her again, knocking her to the ground physically and trying to mentally overpower her.

 

Soresh was up again and was trying to pull the denser being off of her, not sure why he couldn’t string his thoughts together, but instinct to protect his friend driving him.

 

Mirdala struggled against the Ageless-hybrid as he pinned her down. Fear started to grip her as she tried to keep him out of mind.

 

She felt the tension in her throat give a little as Fieyr suddenly flinched like he'd been hit. She knew Tey was on his way to help, she just had to fight him long enough.

 

As though her thoughts had summoned him, seconds later, she felt him slam into the younger Ageless as the man rolled her attacker away from her.

 

Soresh had caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and had disengaged with Fieyr just as TeVerd slammed into him. Without thinking he grabbed her and drug her to the opposite side of the clearing before he finally collapsed against one of the trees, feeling her ball up next to him. Neither of them were conscious for long, having worn themselves out from their own engagement.

 

Cabur felt Tey’s stronger pull and command and put himself squarely between the two humans and Ageless that were facing off against one another.

 

Fieyr wasn’t quite sure what had hit him until he recognized TeVerd’s glowing violet eyes in the tumble of limbs.

 

Suddenly the two of them rolled apart and Fieyr squared off against TeVerd as he circled only to have Carid slam into him as well. “The hell were you trying, boy? I sure has hell didn’t teach it to you.” Carid growled at his soon-to-be ex-student as he smashed him into a nearby tree, severely cracking the trunk with the force.

 

Fieyr tried to shrug it off, but was stunned and hurt. Taken by surprise, he knew he couldn't take on two natural born Ageless, not with all the experience these two had. He squared off against his teacher, trying to focus on disrupting his concentration with an emotional probe.

 

But then his head exploded into pain and brightness. He went to his knees, holding his head with both hands, feeling like it was trying to pull apart.

 

"No, boy, that's how you use a lash." He heard TeVerd growl as a boot came in from the side to solidly connect with his abdomen.

 

"And you never assume that that's the only battle you need to be fighting," the Seeker growled as Fieyr tried to roll away.

 

He focused on the much younger man, putting all his will into a very precise emotional strike.

 

Fieyr slumped, breath ragged. “What makes…her worthy?” He managed to get out willfully.

 

Carid looked up from where he’d been shielding Mirdala and Soresh from any further connection with Fieyr, growling in disgust as he rounded on him. He lashed him as well, rendering the boy unconscious and suppressing the threat to the others for the moment, just as Jorbe caught up with them.

 

The blacksmith looked around, noting how Carid was positioned and where Mirdala was curled up. “What the hell did he do to them?” He touched his daughter’s back tenderly, only to have her scream and force push him back into Carid.

 

Jorbe staggered for a moment, dazed as the other Ageless steadied him back to his feet. Jorbe looked at Carid for explanation, but the hunter’s face was a grim mask.

 

He turned back to his child as he cautiously approached her again, “Mird’ika, udesii, it’s buir. You’re safe now. We’ve got you."

 

TeVerd looked up from his examination of Fieyr's slumped form. "Let's make sure the kids are okay, and leash this feral mongrel for the night away from everyone. Come morning, we're going to have to deal with him."

 

He cast a glance at Carid, nudging him along their empathic connection.

 

Carid nodded, understanding. TeVerd had taken the decision out of his hands.

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

Kandor wasn’t sure when he’d finally crashed out in his chair, but he definitely heard the crash that came from the upper loft.

[Moon Knight]

For the second night in a row, ShadowFett awoke with a start. He had fallen asleep in his beskar'gam, which he usually only did by necessity, and this one was weighted differently than his usual, so it had a disorienting effect. He reached for his assault rifle, trying to remember where he was and identify the potential threat at the same time. The rifle ended up clattering to the barn floor and he had to stoop to pick it up before racing up the stairs, casting around inside his buy'ce to turn off the HUD display of some decade-old investigative journalism piece on Consolidated Security.

 

He managed to have his vision clear by the time he reached the top stair and found a disheveled Mirdala and a weapons rack that had been knocked clean over. He scanned for threats. "Kih'edeemise! Me'vaar ti gaar?" From his tone he was clearly asking for a sitrep.

 

As he continued to come around mentally, he realized that this was most likely the same thing that had plagued her and awoken him the previous night -- a nightmare. But in a new environment he would err on the side of caution.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

She turned in the moonlight, her eyes still closed in sleep as she turned towards the sound of his voice. Her cheeks were also wet with tears as she responded to the dream, “Fieyr…no. No…stop.” She swung out again, trying to fend off whatever was attacking her.

 

He watched as she curled up, her hands closing over her temples as though she were trying to shield herself from whatever was happening. Vi’ika was at her side, whining in concern.

 

“Mird’ika!” she heard him call softly as though from far away. “Mird’ika, Udesii…”

 

The shadowy figure was joined by another, this one much smaller and much more nebulous. The flames roared again as she tried to make them out. The flames roared higher in response and she fell backwards as they leapt towards her, threatening to consume her once more.

 

From far away she could hear someone keep calling her name and she hesitated, wary of a trap or trick. The persistence and concern seemed genuine enough that she followed the sound. She could also feel TeVerd reaching out to her as well as he'd done when she was little and having a nightmare.

 

As he watched her, continuing his efforts to call her back from whatever When her ragged breathing finally slowed, and suddenly she bolted up right shouting “Tey!” Finally she seemed to settle enough to finally notice him as well as the mess she’d made. “Kandor.” She was still shaking uncontrollably from the dream still not able to shake this latest vision.

 

Mirdala’s wrist com-beeped multiple times urgently and it took her a moment to register the sound enough to signal back that she was fine, at least more or less. Once she’d keyed in the all-clear code, she removed the device and tossed it on the small crate near the bed. The last thing she wanted was for everyone else to come running as well. She hated being such a burden to the rest of them. Wasn’t she supposed to be here to help with things?

[Moon Knight]

Dropping his rifle and pulling off his buy'ce, Kandor sat on the bed next to Mirdala and put his right hand on her left. He tilted his head at Vi'ika, who took the hint and hopped up on the bed on her opposite side from him. He was unfortunately blind to what they had going on empathically, but he hoped it helped.

 

"Just can't seem to get a break, can you, cyar'ika?" he said, reaching around her shoulder and giving her a squeeze while trying to sound calming as he chased the last cobwebs out of his own kovid. He gave her a moment to compose herself before continuing. "Want to talk about who Fieyr is?"

 

He hoped he'd heard her correctly and she hadn't said 'fire' instead. He reflected that due to the blaze that had taken her homestead on Shogun, it would be a reasonable thing to join the arsenal pointed at her in her dreams. But if it was indeed a name, as he suspected, he had the opportunity to learn about another puzzle piece while simultaneously lending her emotional support.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

She initially jumped at his touch, but grasped his hand as Vi’ika jumped up next to her and began licking her face as she leaned into his embrace. When she finally answered him, her voice had taken on a cold edge and her body had tensed in anger. “He’s the reason TeVerd and Carid left. He wanted TeVerd to train him and was willing to go through me to prove I wasn’t worth TeVerd’s time.”

 

She turned to look at him, and he could see the spark of anger and resolution from behind her eyes. “The people that are hunting my family are specifically targeting people with those same skill sets and at least know how they operate, if they don’t have the same skills themselves. So then the question is still ‘who could know enough about how they operate to effectively take them out in the numbers they are?'"

 

“It would have to be someone that trained with them…” She continued. “I think I might know who the renegade is. My old training partner, Fieyr.”

 

She stroked Vi’ika’s black fur and began to ramp herself back down as she gained better clarity and control over her emotions with her hound’s help. "I also remember how he thought he was way better than he really was just because he was Ageless and older than I was. I’d had enough of that from Aluir…"

 

She thought for a minute, before she rose to pace. "I also remember him sort of sulking whenever Soresh and I got to train alongside him when it was training with Carid or TeVerd. He didn't even like my cousins training alongside us either. Especially Vannae, Tresha, and Aluir, and Vannae was doing some of the teaching."

 

"Carid got real tired of his attitude and took him on as a hunt-partner for a couple of years to try to reign him in and show him some good influence."

 

She closed her eyes trying to focus on the tendrils of memory that were beginning to surface. "He came back though, when I was thirteen...and..." Her breath caught for a moment. "He attacked me…" She bit her lip, as she continued to grasp at the previously buried memory. “Both physically and empathically…I think he wanted to prove that TeVerd was wasting his time on me and that he was better equipped to be his hunt partner.”

 

Turning to the barn window she looked across the field at the main house another memory flooding her, “I’ve only ever felt Tey that mad once before in my life..."

[Moon Knight]

Kandor remained sitting, watching Mirdala pace. An Ageless on the other side raised a certain challenge, and it sounded like their quest for answers would eventually lead them to coming into conflict with Fieyr. He'd never encountered anything like these verde... but his powers as Moon Knight made him well equipped for the task, and to him that meant he had almost a responsibility to pit himself against them, even without the significance to the troubles of Mirdala's aliit. For now, of course, he would be patient. They would have to plan their moves carefully.

 

"It adds up. He might be a lead," Fett suggested. "I suppose he'll turn up if we look under enough rocks."

 

He considered what else she had said. "How were his actions enough to drive TeVerd away? He'd been training you... basically your whole life to that point, right?"

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Mirdala turned from the window and met his eyes in the dimness. “Someone had to teach him how to attack the way he did - like a Seeker. I only survived him and that Darksider years later because Hwulf, Carid, and TeVerd taught me how to keep those like him out.” Now that she had a lead to chase, things seemed to fall into a sharp focus.

 

“I have to make a call,” she said suddenly as spun around to leave. “I would get what rest you can. I’ll be back in a few,” she called on her way out the door as Vi’ika followed after her.

 

Walking a short way into the wooded area behind the barn she activated her implant and shifted it to a specific encoded priority channel.

 

Rhys. What’s going on Mirdala? Thought you’d sounded ‘All clear’ a moment ago?

 

“I’m fine, no immediate threat, but I think I’ve figured out who’s behind this. I need to talk to him. I need to know what happened after he left."

 

There was hesitation on the other end of the line. You’ll be seeing him tomorrow and can tell him then. Care to fill me in?

 

Mirdala growled in frustration. “It was a wanna-be Seeker that Carid took under his wing when I was younger. Remember that memory block I had as to why he’d left the sector?"

 

Yes. Does he have a name? Rhys’s voice remained level and she could feel him nudging her within their shared bond.

 

“Fieyr was all I ever knew him by. I don’t know if he has more on him, but I knew the sooner I passed this along the sooner we could move on this."

 

I’ll pass it along to the others and we’ll find out what we can. Prentiss will call you to arrange a meet tomorrow morning. Remember, he’s your partner and has your back.

 

Mirdala knew from her training with Viscount and from being around Rhys and the others so long that she’d just been told TeVerd’s cover identity. No one could know that he was still alive and it was very important that she remember that. Not even the Ad’Norts had been told. It was better for everyone that it stayed that way.

 

“Did you relay that I was bringing my partner along?"

 

He’s your responsibility. You’ll be the one to tell him. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got some work to do if I plan on sleeping tonight. Rhys out.

 

Mirdala shivered slightly in the cooler-than-expected night air and wondered why she felt nervous about introducing Kandor to the man she was beginning to acknowledge had been like another father to her. She and TeVerd were just getting used to each other again and she wondered how things would play out.

 

Not for the first time she considered what she’d be asking of the others by bringing him along. She knew they didn’t take kindly to the idea that others would try to replicate them or that more clones had been made and Kandor would certainly be a reminder of that fact. Things would have been different if she’d never retreated back to Enigma.

 

But then Kandor would likely have descended into madness under Faust’s poison, her internal voice reminded her.

 

I wouldn’t have known, she retorted back.

 

You’d have found out after the fact. Something would have happened enough to catch someone’s attention. It’s not like they weren’t looking at him closely once they’d known he was a contact of yours.

 

She hated it when her internal voice was right. No doubt the others had gone to ground to find out everything they could about him once they knew he’d existed and was a clone. Mirdala had never given them his actual name, but her recognition of Verdeyuii when they first met had tipped them off well enough that he wasn’t the first clone that she’d seen. It also didn’t help that they knew she’d been involved with him while he was her superior officer.

 

She decided to head back to the barn before she caught a cold and before her growing headache became a full blown migraine.

[Moon Knight]

Fett nodded at her suggestion and decided if he was going to make a more earnest attempt at sleep it would help to get out of his beskar'gam. He began to peel off the multicolored plates while Mirdala made her call, admittedly energized somewhat by her fervor but placing high value on being well rested for whatever activities the next day would bring. Corellia had only been a week or so prior but it felt much longer and he was itching to get back out in the field -- besides, Marc had been the one that had really gotten the action there while Kandor had sort of spectated.

 

By the time he had changed into something he could sleep in Mirdala was back. Although she'd managed to shake off the worst of it by chasing a lead, he could tell she was still a bit jittery from the dream and she opted to settle in next to him in bed, Vi'ika resting on the floor nearby but periodically lifting an eye or an ear towards her partner to make sure there weren't any further disturbances.

 

This time, it was Fett that dreamed, and for the first time since the RAGE had been purged from his body.

 

He was sitting on a beach on some idyllic planet, the sun sweeping northward towards a swift sunset. The weather was just perfect, and he closed his eyes to feel a gentle breeze waft over him. When he opened them again, he saw Mirdala sitting beside him, smiling as he was. There was not a problem on his mind, not a worry on her face... the pure tranquility of the scene made him wish for something he'd never before -- peaceful days.

 

But it did not last. Suddenly Mirdala's face creased with anxiety as her eyes slid down from his to his chest, and that swiftly became terror. Confused, he looked down. He was wearing the mirrored beskar'gam from the visions he'd been having in the final hours of the RAGE-induced psychosis. Right now, as the sun continued to sink, the plates reflected the sky's vista of orange and red.

 

Kandor's eyes slid open for a moment, and he considered the dream for about a minute, but ultimately found he had no idea what it meant and drifted off back to sleep.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Thankfully the sleep that had found her was dreamless the rest of the night. Whether that was because she’d correctly guessed what her mind was telling her or because there was something about being near his steady presence that seemed to settle the unrest in her psyche. Either way, she woke feeling decently rested so she wasn’t willing to delve too deeply in to the whys.

 

His arm was draped protectively around her waist as she lay on her left side facing the interior of the barn’s structure as the dawn broke through the loft window behind them. For a moment she didn’t want to move, unwilling to disturb his sleep.

 

The chirping of her comm made the decision for her. She yawned and reached for it as the last of the fog of sleep left her mind as she realized who it was that would be on the other line. “Constable Ad’Goran,” she answered formally before doing her best to stifle another yawn.

 

Restless night?

 

“You could say that. It resulted in a lead though, or at least as solid of one as any,” she responded reverting to the more ancient form of the language, specifically the older Shogunite dialect.

 

Not alone, or just miss the chance to use the older tongues? She could tell from his tone that “not alone” meant someone else than one of her cousins or aunt since they could all speak a similar dialect.

 

“My partner, Kandor, is with me. He wants to help,” she admitted, reaching out to him within the empathic bond. There was just the barest hint of his irritation that he wasn’t able to suppress, mixed with a concern for her well being.

 

There was a long silence on the other end before she heard his response. That remains to be seen. Bring him along to the coordinates I’m sending. Untangle yourselves from the Ad’Norts as soon as Laesha will let you within reason. I’ll expect you in the next few hours. You can reach me at this code.

 

“Understood.” She tried not to think about how he’d managed to drag the information that she’d been involved with Kandor, a clone and her superior officer, out of her not long after they’d reunited, but her mind wandered in that direction any way. Ultimately she knew he’d respect her choices, even if he didn’t approve of them, but that did little to still her nerves or sway her mind from the memory.

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

A brightly dressed doorman was holding the door open for her in front of a place named Frozen Moment. As they walked in, a stiffly dressed Mait're D' rushed to meet TeVerd, now decked out in the Service-A uniform of a Consolidated Security officer. "Right this way, sir - your room is ready, we've already got a micro-server standing by." he gestured towards the back, to a small room bedecked with draperies on the walls and subdued lighting, and a small table for two at one wall.

 

Mirdala suddenly felt they were both grossly under dressed for this level of restaurant, though she suspected few would really say anything to a ConSec officer. It was then that she noticed some of the looks that they were getting from some of the other patrons, particularly the women. Jealousy and envy and resentment towards her in equal parts.

 

Tey wrapped one arm around her as they enter the restaurant, heading for the room. "Relax - they need to appreciate a broader clientele, anyway." In his voice and vibes, she felt his smirk of contempt for these people.

 

"Just a quiet lunch between two socially connected people, at a two-hundred cred a plate commerce sector diner." He smiled at her, enjoying the the emotional twitches he was reading. "And I know that nobody will even try to enter this room without comming first."

 

As he seated her, she started feeling a fuzzy, static sensation in the back of her head. After seating her, Tey walked over, closed the door, and settled down across from her, seemingly completely at ease with the setting. "Drinks?" He asked, smiling.

 

"You know Ori’vod, there are times when I don't think I know you at all." She said wandering around the room, performing her own sweeps with her implant. "A quiet lunch? At two-hundred cred a plate? Are you out of your mind? I'm not sure 'diner' is an accurate description."

 

He shrugged. "I told you, it's not my money, so it's not expensive for me, at all."

 

Satisfied with her room sweep, she motioned to the droid "What about him?"

 

He shrugged, unconcerned. "Go ahead and put a security block in it, if you wish. If it makes you feel better." He reached over for a bottle of challa water off the droid's tray.

 

She felt the nebulous sensation again and cast a side glance to Tey. "Why are you still trying to block me?" Her hand went to the blaster pastor at her hip, and she had the safety restraint off as she eyed him warily, suddenly, not sure if she'd been so blind as to wander into a trap or not.

 

He smiled. "You don't trust me? You really are too much like me. Honestly, I'm not blocking you out, Vod’ika." He smirked secretively. "I have, however, taken steps to hide you a little better. Especially now that you show up so well in the empathic stream..."

 

She relaxed, but only just, as she crossed to the table and sat down, not quite understanding his seeming lack of concern for security measures in their current situation.

 

"Are you saying that you trained me too well?" She sighed and pulled out a small holopad and placed it on the table. "You realize that it's not something that I find funny right now. Especially not with what I'm about to show you." She depressed the playback button.

 

Tey stopped smiling and looked at her for a moment, his face neutral, before reaching across the table for the pad. He picked it up and held it where he could watch the screen for himself. Mirdala felt the lurch in his emotions as the files started playing.

 

He watched in silence for a moment, his face not betraying anything, but Mirdala felt the turmoil he was in, and for a moment felt guilty about it, even though she needed to know.

 

"Poor Verd’ike..." he said, softly, and Mirdala felt a keen sense of loss in him. "Rhen Var, where Oratur and Kaille were killed... such a waste of good ad’ike..." He muttered. He watched more, silently. " Faie... The only one of the Al’verde to make it through gestation..."

 

He thumbed the pad off. She felt him gathering his calm, then he looked at her, expressionless again. "Where did you get this, and why is it relevant?"

 

She had watched him quietly, filing away the names he'd muttered for further research. It was obvious he'd known these men and their deaths were something he still felt guilty for. She rose and embraced him, apology and comfort flowing though their bond.

 

"'Why is it relevant?'" she echoed quietly. "Because I thought the ruus’alor in it was you. I know I don't know everything about your past, but I need to know if this is true. All of the pieces of the file I've been able to decrypt so far are what you see before you. What worries me more is where I found it."

 

He hugged her for a a moment, before muttering to himself. "Yes, Mird'ika, I'm the man in the black-trimmed armor in there. Leading troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic." He utters the name with acid in his tone. He stops, thinking. "Most of the GAR files were supposed to have been destroyed after the rise of the Empire. There's not supposed to be any information about that specific part of the Army left. Every intelligence group in the Galaxy would love to have control of those files, you know, with the info they contain about those troopers." He tried to ignore the twitch he felt then, both from her and from elsewhere.

 

Again, she felt that odd buzzing sensation, a slightly stronger surge this time. Her hand returned to her weapon, this time drawing it from its holster. Wordlessly, she began to move around the small room, reaching out with all of her senses trying to find the source, still not quite able to shake the sense that they were being watched. "You are sure we're alone?" she asked walking the perimeter of the room.

 

He watched her orbit the room for a bit, almost flinching at the wariness in the room. He sighed. "Okay, you know you weren't supposed to actually come in here, just be nearby. So, you might as well meet formally..." he muttered in ancient Mando'a.

 

Mirdala turned to him, confused, until he she heard a small rustling behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a man removing a holo-shroud, a grim look on his face.

 

Behind her, she heard Tey say, in the same archaic tongue, "Omicron-267, meet Mirdala Ad'Goran. Mirdala, meet your smoke-screen..."

 

Mirdala jumped back, weapon trained on the figure that had just materialized, his face was just a bit too familiar, though not quite the same as Kandor's. It was almost as though they could have been close cousins. Her eyes narrowed, very close cousins.

 

"Omicron?" she echoed also in the archaic tongue, looking him up and down before deciding that he wasn't a present threat and lowering her weapon. She didn't return it to her holster though. "GAR? The clone army? You were one of the Cuy Val’dar?"

 

The 'Ones Who Don't Exist' along with a unit that wasn't supposed to exist, found in files that weren't supposed to exist from a war most people had forgotten about. Mirdala kept looking from one to another and back again as her quick mind worked to process the information and the implications it held. "How is that possible? I thought those clones were all dead."

 

Omicron-267's eyes narrowed and his head tilted a certain way, and she felt his surge of interest, and a small hint of threat. "Interesting. So few know that the Clone Wars meant the Republic's army. And even fewer, outside of the Army itself, knew who trained that army. Who advised it, who led it into battle to make up for the patheticness and ineptitudes of the Republic's beloved Jetiise... And so few would have any clue about the life span of that Army..."

 

As she looked up at the omicron unflinchingly, she knew there was no doubt that he'd been raised by TeVerd, especially not since the look he was giving her one she'd seen on her ori’vod many times before. "It doesn't take a lot of brain power to put it together that you look pretty good for someone that's close to a century or older."

 

Verdeyuui opened his mouth as though he were about to retort, but TeVerd broke in instead. “Verd, back off! Yes, Mirdala - most of those men are dead and gone - there's a relative handful of them who are still around, out of the nearly five million bred for that war and the fall-out there-from." He narrows his eyes. "Again, Mird'ika - where did you find that? Anyone with those files could possibly glean enough to get many good men, and the families they might have formed, killed. It could also be used as a weapon against us, if you follow me. Hence why he's almost got his fangs out now."

 

He watched the emotional interchange between the Verdeyuii and Mirdala, feeling the duel and the instant rivalry between the two. He wasn't sure Mirdala realized quite all the reasons for her wariness around the Omicron.

 

Neither do I, actually! he realized with a start.

 

"Fangs?" she said looking back to the man in front of her, suddenly looking and feeling even more Tey-like. Looking back to Tey, her desire for an explanation was evident, but twice she'd evaded a question that demanded an answer.

 

Returning to Tey's side, she finally secured her weapon and took her seat, taking back the holopad. "I found it while fixing something else in the Sivaara's security system. It's one of the reasons I've stayed there, to observe and figure out who it was that had the file."

 

The clone trooper, Omicron-267 she remembered, cocked his head a different way, obviously considering his response. He was also watching her out of the corner of his eye, feeling slightly unbalanced by her presence and emotional surges.

 

"Why would weapons developers and anatomists be interested in secured files from the Wars?” He asked, more to himself than to TeVerd or Mirdala. "The tech is out of date, even most of the science of cloning process has been superseded. The only thing particular about these files is the class of Clones involved, and That is very interesting for all the wrong kinds of reasons, considering..." He looked at his former ruus’alor and suddenly stopped.

 

Verdeyuii thought for a minute, then looked at her. "Excuse me, Ver’alor, but when he referred to me as your smoke-screen, He meant it. If I was going to murder you, I could have done so last night after you two had hammered each other into a coma."

 

He smiled warily, and she felt that sense of confusion from him. "Trust me, Ba’vod’ika, I'm just a lovable little kyramud when you get to know me, but I know to put my aliit first."

 

"As am I," she remarked, a wicked grin spreading on her face, "But that works for me." she said reaching over and gripping 267's forearm referring to both the self assessment he'd used and his other admission about the damage-control from the night before, "So do I call you by your number or is there another name you prefer?"

 

The Omicron looked embarrassed. "Please don't use my number. That's all the Kaminoans and some of the jetiise would use for me. My ruus’alor named me Verdeyuii." He paused. "But my family can call me Vy'ika. We use our numbers over comms to disguise who is who. After all," He laughed, "Most people can't tell the difference."

 

She looked at the two of them as she found her center and got used to the new static. “My aliit is first as well," she said nudging Tey. "I do not count the Sivaara family among them. Especially with that file in their possession, and that was before you filled me in on more than I already expected."

 

Vy'ika looked at her with a new measure of respect. "I still don't understand where and how those dikute got that information! You were right, Buir...Osik.." He winced, realizing his slip.

 

"It's okay, Vy'ika - you can show her." Tey said calmly. "'Sabacc on the table' time."

 

Mirdala looked at the clone's face in time to see something she was familiar with - two spare eyelids snapping out of place, and facial marks fading into view.

 

Mirdala withdrew slightly their bond her face also set, not wanting the storm of emotions that Vy'ika had unwittingly triggered to show. "Ah..." she said looking at Tey, doing her best to hide her hurt,”Buir. So there are others like you and Hwulf out there then? Vy'ika and the others like Taen and Tennae?" Her tone was one of business rather than the casual tone she'd had before.

 

She wasn't sure why she was hurting so deeply, but she wasn't about to take it out on Vy'ika. Those wounds and issues were her own, some of them brought to the surface from her recent conversation with Taen. It was something she'd sort out when she had that luxury. For now, aliit came first. "There are more of us out there than I thought..."

 

"Not really." Tey said, not looking at her.

 

Vy'ika started, feeling something that felt like a void, which she felt too.

 

"I think there may be a small handful of the true Ageless left...the rest are like you and your cousins,” TeVerd continued. "And what might be left of Vy'ika's batch. They're, quite bluntly, less equipped to deal with this enemy than you are, actually."

 

Vy'ika frowned, muttering something under his breath.

 

"I don't know what these files mean, but I know it's not good. I just didn't expect to find the connection to you by trying to figure out whether or not I really cared about connecting with my birth family. That,” she indicated the data pad, "in addition to what I learned from the armor and other physical evidence, lead me to BakToid.

 

"Whoever cleaned up that wreckage site didn't do a very good job, because Mica also found this," she tossed a charred and damaged data chip onto the table. "It's part of the central processor, all I could get though was the BakToid connection, which you've already identified. Their daughter's death and my unsuspected connection to them merely gave me the excuse I needed to pursue the lead."

 

Tey looked at the central processor. "I still have to deal with Mica..." He shook himself out of something. "I'd never seen that type of droid in my life, 'Dika. I was just guessing about BakToid based on my long experience with some of their other designs. Even when they hire completely new designers, sooner or later, every company gets in the habit of trying to tie new product into old. Even if it's only one or two custom-made jobs. And I still have no idea how or why they got those files. I looked forever, trying to make sure this info never got loose. Understand - anyone who knows too much about the Omicrons could possibly figure out tactics to use against any of the aliit."

 

He looked at her, trying to read her, hurt by the withdrawal. He started to say something, then sighed and left, leaving her and Vy'ika staring after him.

 

Osik. Mirdala rose to follow him, when Vy'ika caught her arm firmly. She turned on him. "Let me go. I've lost him twice now and I'll be damned if there will be a third time!"

 

Vy'ika looked at her levelly. "Think of how it will look to have you go chasing him. You hurt him again, but he'll be back."

 

"He didn't come back last time! He was gone for over a decade!"

 

"If he leaves by himself, they'll assume it's business - if you leave now, word will get out that you had a spat - that will mean Nathaline hovering over you again, impeding the investigation. And we really do need to figure out just how much they might have learned about my kind...

 

"He's not going away. He just can't handle it right now. But he'll still be in the area. You're both doing the 'Stiff upper lip' thing, and all,” Vy'ika assured her, not letting go. "Too many ghosts and regrets right now. Us accidentally double-teaming him like that was too much.

 

"He claimed you, Ba’vod’ika, fairly forcefully. That was rather a startling change for him. Usually, getting him to admit a bond with anyone takes two tons of thermite and a case of breaching charges.” He waited a second. "Besides, he isn't alone. He just thinks he is."

 

Mirdala looked at him her own anger apparent though he couldn’t feel her, but she did relax knowing that his comment about the outer appearance of the situation was true. "He claimed me? But you called him Buir? Are you telling me that he doesn't see you as being his?" She looked towards the door but sat back down, processing everything that had just transpired. Then something else clicked, "Vi'ika...she got her name from you?"

 

“Yes, he claimed you as his aliit. When he was worried that perhaps I wasn't here as an ally, and more possibly, a threat to you. As for he and I...perhaps it's more honest to say that he's always been somewhat ambivalent about the role he played in my whole life. I wasn't created to be a real person, you know. As skilled and professional as they were, our other sergeants obviously felt no real attachment to us, seeing as how they didn't stick around after we were declared ready to fight." He ground his teeth for a moment. "We got lucky in the sergeants we had, at least - some of the cuy val’dar were what you might call downright evil in their approaches to training clones. And there certainly aren't as many of us as there were at the beginning of that war."

 

He paused. "And, neither did they really choose to step outside of the framework of the rules established by the clonemasters and the head of the Cuy Val'dar. TeVerd, however, not only stuck around to lead us through the war. But he taught us to think of ourselves as living beings, not organic weapons. And, he gave a bunch of us names, something that was ours and made us real people, not just military supplies." He thought for a second. "I think you'd say he was an accidental buir. And he's never been sure how to handle everything that that entails…"

 

Finally able to control her emotions again, Mirdala reached out to both Vy'ika and Tey as she spoke. "Somehow I knew that he and Hwulf's race were dying out, but I never imagined that there were as many hybrids out there, let alone that they'd been bred to fight in the Clone Wars. As bad as this will sound, that's more resources than I thought we originally had, and if you were raised by ner Ori’vod, then I trust what you know and can do. Haran. I've seen it in action."

 

"Sorry about drawing away. These last few months have been - trying - to say the least. I don't know the

Last time I truly had a chance to just be. I guess that's another thing the three of us have in common" she remarked, taking comfort in the fact that Vyika also felt similarly to Tey, and with him showing his spots, it was easier for her that he didn't look exactly like Kandor. She had to admit to herself that she missed him very much right then as well.

 

Vy'ika smiled somewhat thinly. " Believe me, I know exactly how it feels not to be given a chance to be your own person sometimes."

 

"As for your hound. Yes, her name is how she heard one of the others saying mine." He smiled openly this time. "And, yes, Ba’vod’ika - you're welcome. Getting her to you was a major aaray. You're such a strong empath that I thought she was going to run up to you much too soon." He laughed. "Thankfully for us, you both get so worked up about other things that you never really noticed me, and right now, he's forgotten that he asked someone to play overwatch on him..."

 

"I guess that must have been hard growing up being looked at as some sort of meat-weapon. You guys are so much more. How the Jetiise managed to justify overlooking the fact that you weren't just thinking-weapons, but sentient beings, is beyond me and another reason why I could never be counted among them. Too much self-righteousness, even in the ones who've learned to see value in my skills as a Mando’ad." She thought about what Kandor had told her about his own buir[/i] and wondered how the other millions of clones had faced such a cruel and harsh upbringing. In some ways, she could understand why Kandor had behaved the way he had.

 

Verdeyuii smirked. "Old GAR joke: What's the difference between a droid and a clone? Answer - the droid has a scrap value after the fighting is over. Otherwise, as far as the government is concerned, a droid factory or a clone barracks - both are just really large arms lockers."

 

He shrugged. "I have no idea how the rank and file coped, but the Special [/i]breeds got looked after a little better. The meat-cans only had Med-droids and cloners. At least we had instructors. Some of the instructors were horrid beings who seemed willing to kill the clones in their charge simply for fun, or to instill fear in their troops. Our instructors at least treated us like soldiers. One of them treated us like men." He said, an edge in his voice. "Which actually made things worse when we were released into the GAR's general strategy, and had to work with Jetiise, some of whom would tell you to your face that you weren't actually alive, or refuse to use even your number. It was 'Clone, do this', or 'You clones, go over there and die heroically.'" He growled, very much like Tey and very much like her. "But we always knew that our Series Sergeant was out there somewhere, dealing with the same frustrations, fighting the same enemies. And that helped us cope."

 

"Who's on overwatch with him? One of our brothers?" she asked, another small flare of jealousy, as that had been what she'd been for Tey for most, if not all of her younger life.

 

He quirked an eyebrow, sensing her sudden surge of jealousy and protectiveness and off-balance by her admission of something he'd suspected but been afraid to voice. "Another Omicron, yes. As he asked of us last night. He's aware of himself enough right now, with all this going on, that he knows he may not be making the brightest choices in his personal security." He looked at her and she felt the sense of duty and reliability in him, even as wrapped up in confusion and wariness as he was. "Believe me, until all is said and done, someone will be near both of you at all times."

 

Mirdala smiled and hugged him. “Vor’e, it means a lot."

 

He stopped, cocking his head, obviously listening. "Okay, don't let him see you. Yes, just a little. No, my fault, really." He looked up. "He's still here. He's making it look like he's taking a call while he calmed down. As worked up as he is, he's still being professional."

 

"Considering this file and it's connection with the Sivaara family and Baktoid, it's a small wonder he didn't kill me last night,” she thought out loud.

 

Vy'ika smiled wickedly. "Well, we didn't exactly know about those files last night. Had we known, I might have considered it. Especially since I didn't know it was Buir in your room last night." He snickered. "Sorry for interrupting such a cuddly family reunion, by the way."

 

Mirdala looked at him darkly for a moment. "And that would have caused BakToid to put a tighter chokehold around their resources and make this mess even harder to sort out."

 

She closed her eyes and reached back out to Tey, urging him to come back.

 

Vy'ika stopped smiling, but she could still feel the smirk in his emotions. She was also surprised that she felt the equivalent of a tap on the shoulder, but not aimed at her or Tey.

 

He cocked his head again. "Oh, he saw you? What'd you do, wave a lumi-tube at him?" He clicked his teeth, then turned towards the door. Then backed up to the wall, just as TeVerd came in.

 

"What?" the Ageless growled. Mirdala can see that his eyes are slightly illuminated under his contacts.

 

She didn't back away as he entered the room. She knew that it was her retreat that had caused him to leave, it had been a rubbing of salt over a mending wound. She instead embraced him, refusing to let him go. Her mind locked on his through their empathic bond letting him in letting him know she hadn't meant to shut him out. "We're not leaving each other again. I'm not going to shut you out again. We've caused each other enough pain. We need each other now more than ever."

 

Tey stopped for a minute. "S'okay, Dika. I think we're both real raw & sensitive - we're a little too easy to nudge out of our comfort zones." He let her feel sheltered as he wrapped his arms around her. "And you're right, we need to be able to trust each other and remember that we're aliit."

 

"Now, How did you learn about the clones? Nobody really remembers that war. Like Vy'ika said, Most people who have heard of the Wars don't realize that the Clones in the name meant the Republic's forces. Anyone who knows that could get it into their heads to go looking for any surviving clones. Like, for example, a breed of clone with the ability to be pack-hunters even out of their rigs..."

 

She glanced at Vy'ika and nodded. "Several months back, we had one named Delta show up as being linked to a massacre on Naboo, it was one of the incidents talked about in the press conference. He was one of the ones leading the charge in the false CoreSec uniforms. He's a Vigo for Black Sun, the same organization that killed ner riduur." she answered stepping back from Tey.

 

"When did you get married? And why didn't the aliit know?" Tey barked.

 

Meanwhile, Vy'ika was trying to get details. "A clone, a Fett clone? How??"

 

Mirdala fielded the easier question first, "I don't know where he came from, Vy'ika. I thought they'd all be dead. As for knowing about them, did Tey not fill you in about the Skirata part of my ba'buir's aliit? Ba’buir was an extended family and remembered seeing a ba'vad or two when she was little. That's how I know about them, from old holos." It was mostly the truth anyway, but she buried her conflicted feelings for Kandor deep, but she wasn't certain enough she'd hidden it in time.

 

She turned back to Tey. "I got married when I was nineteen to a beroya named Tracyn. He was murdered two years ago in the Mos Eisley Cantina that we ran during the war." Again thoughts of Kandor tried to surface, since he'd been the one to see her through much of her grief, but she clamped down hard on them. It was on Mos Eisley that she'd first seen his face.

 

Tey frowned, but was interrupted by the comm near the table buzzing. Vy'ika answered it, doing a credible job of imitating Tey's Rale Sindak voice. He turned to them as he gathered up the Holo-shroud again. "Lunch is served." he muttered, pulling it over his head just as there was a discrete knock at the door.

 

After the waiter had wheeled in a large cart, received what looked like a handsome tip from Tey, and departed, Vy'ika ducked back out of hiding. He headed right for the cart.

 

After inspecting the contents, he sighed, trying to appear disappointed, but not being able to quite pull it off. "Well, I guess it's a step above ration cubes, at least..."

 

While they picked samples from the dishes, Tey turned back toward his kinswoman. "I'm very sorry, Dika. I don't think Hwulf or the others knew. It was certainly not something he chose to hit me over the head with, anyways. And whether I would have approved or not, I'm sorry I wasn't there."

 

"If you could have, you would have been. I know that now ori’vod." She reached over and squeezed his hand in forgiveness and appreciation.

 

Vy'ika wisely chose to stay out of that discussion, possibly still not sure of his footing on matters of aliit, esp with the revelation of how Mirdala saw Tey, as well.

 

They ate in silence for a moment, and Mirdala could feel both men's curiosity levels rising. Should've known - two empathic Beroya. She thought, realizing what was coming.

 

Again, Vy'ika deferred to Tey on what was obviously a prickly subject.

 

"That's not all of it, though, is it? About the clones, I mean. You reacted too familiarly to Vy'ika's face for it to simply be the face of a gangster you've stalked..." Tey said, carefully.

 

This was one of the times that Mirdala wished she wasn't so connected with Tey. Kandor's identity was a secret she'd sworn to protect - and had been tortured recently protecting both him and CoreSec secrets - but she couldn't have hidden her reaction from Tey or Vy'ika. It was a long while before she answered, quietly choosing to eat while she collected her thoughts, though knowing the issue wouldn't go away. Tey'd always been too damn patient sometimes. Finally, at length she remarked. "I worked with one shortly after I got the news of Tracyn's murder."

 

It was the best she could provide to attempt to set her ori’vod's mind at ease while still protecting Kandor, and it was hard to keep her conflicted feelings over him to herself. She wanted to tell him, but she'd made a promise and she was damned if she was going to break it.

 

Tey stared at her for a moment, obviously thinking about what he was feeling from her.

 

"I don't think that's quite all of it." He said, causing Mirdala to worry. "I'm guessing part of the fact that you're so conflicted about talking about it means that you gave your word about how far some of that information would go. You're also on contract to CoreSec, so you'd be expected to keep your employers secrets, anyways." He held up one hand in acknowledgment of the conditions. "Each of those conditions alone would normally be enough for you to refuse to answer.

 

"But, Mirdala, We need to know. Quit evading the answer. You now know how clones, and the knowledge of them, is now a potentially compromising secret in this aliit. And, again, your reaction is too strong to have been merely for a coworker.” He stopped, hating himself for pushing the issue, but he had to. "You're involved with a clone. Obviously one from a new batch, but all the same..."

 

Mirdala's jaw clenched, but she nodded her assent. "I am." She didn't appreciate him forcing the admission from her, even though she knew the reasons for it. While it wasn't a direct betrayal of the trust Kandor had placed in her, it still felt that way. "He's my traat’aliit’ad who's currently off hunting down dar’jetiise." She couldn't bring herself to admit that it was a dar’jetiise that had been able to locate her when she was operating on Tatooine, effectively as locked down as she knew how to be. Never mind the fact that it was the same man that had brought the Augury together.

 

Vy'ika flinched from the conflict in her, looking at her sideways and saying nothing. She felt him trying to feel nothing, as well.

 

Tey sighed, wondering if this was really his business after all the time he'd been gone, esp since she felt so troubled over the issue itself. He had the feeling that she was troubled by the person himself, as much as the fact that he, the man who had trained her to guard secrets, had just made her break her word. He hated doing it, but with the way things were going, this aliit was guarding too many secrets from themselves as is. What had already happened in this room was proof of that

 

And they need to be able to trust each other if I get hit again. He thought, eying the two verd’ika. Whether or not he was around, Mird'ika would need the Omicrons, and They needed to know that they were helping someone who wouldn't casually use their loyalty.

 

"Do you trust him..." He began again.

 

"I do, despite the fact he can be atin." It was obvious there was some recent pain there, but that she'd been able to push it aside for the good of the aliit. She still loved him, but that didn't make his actions regarding how her family should be handling the current situation any easier to handle.

 

Tey sighed, knowing that there wasn't any way to dodge the topic, or really, even gracefully drop it. "I'm going to tell you, Dika - the concept of being involved with an officer of greater or lesser rank is about the same line as being involved with your employer. It's one that you need to think long and hard about how bending that line will affect things, okay?" He let her feel his resolve on that. She knew how he felt about the idea of crossing those lines. He'd talked about it when he trained her.

 

"You don't think I've thought about that, TeVerd?" she shot back, unable to endure the uncomfortable questions any longer. "He and I were involved before rank or CoreSec came into the picture," She didn't press the point of fact that Kandor had seen her through many of her trials over the last two years. If it wasn't for him, Mirdala wasn't sure she'd have been able to have coped with the near constant stream of tests.

 

Her use of his full ‘name' caused him to drop that line of discussion, sorry he'd opened it to begin with.

 

He was thankful Vy'ika was possessed of enough discretion to not enter the discussion. He sensed some sort of dynamic change between the two of them, and didn't feel like opening that issue with them if he could help it.

 

"The bigger question is - would you trust him enough to not get any of your ba’vad, or your ba’vodu Laesha, killed? Or to not compromise Vy'ika or the other Omicrons?" He paused.

 

Mirdala met his gaze and considered the question and implications carefully before she answered. "I want to say yes, but his behavior as of late has demonstrated he'd pose more risk than asset." The admission hurt, but it was honest.

 

Tey's face clouded, hurt by having missed so much of the lives of the ad'ike. Hwulf had been right about some of his mistakes. Not all of them. But some.

 

Mirdala reached out and took his hand, letting him know she was okay and that her irritation regarding the issue he'd just brought up wasn't entirely his doing.

 

He stopped, reading her for a moment, then decided not to press her any further. There'd been enough accidental hurt for a day. "Then we'll have to rely on you if we need anything through Government channels, Dika." He paused. "Well, unless we can sneak one of the mongrels in..."

 

Mirdala frowned at his use of 'Mongrels', offended on Vy'ika's behalf. "Considering that CoreSec doesn't know about Captain Fett's real identity, I don't think it would be an issue, but we'd have to prove that he's not Delta in disguise otherwise he's likely to find himself in stun-cuffs. Not to mention you also have me for what access I can get to BakToid's systems, or at least get you guys close enough to get your spike in. Or I can deliver the spike. I did write a worming program that's currently shaving fractions of credits off Black Sun's profit margin and shuffling through a series of untraceable cred accounts into the coffers of various worth-while charities. Hacking BakToid shouldn't be an issue, especially if I can get access to their system."

 

Vy'ika snickered. "Oh, she's a Skirata all right..." But didn't explain the remark further, radiating deep amusement.

 

Tey rolled his eyes, but also chose not explain right then. The he looked at Dika. "Oh, don't worry - we're going to let you do some of the work, too. You're not getting out of it that easily. Being sneaky for a while will also give us time to heal and reset. And I think we need it."

 

Mirdala nodded.

 

He stopped, thinking, then nodded to himself. "But it looks like we're getting our security elements in place. And I think we're starting to sort your strike team out, as well."

 

She looked from one to the other, certain she'd missed some private joke. "My strike team? What makes you think that I'm the one in charge?"

 

Tey looked at her, smiling proudly. "Yeah, I know. My age must be showing. But I've decided to let you lead this phase of things, anyways. "

 

"Okay then, I guess I am the one that has the best play of both fields on this.

 

Tey looks at her. "Well, that and, you're ready for a team like this."

 

Mirdala nodded, accepting his confidence before turning to Vy'ika and adding, "Feel free to tell me to nar’sheb if you feel I'm leading you or your brothers stupidly. I'm not the sort to pretend I know everything and I know you guys have been at this longer. To me this is a matter solely of aliit, not CoreSec, the GA, or anyone else's plans or agendas."

 

Vy'ika smirks. "Oh, I always feel free to ignore officers…” He taped the cheap military issue chrono on his wrist. Tey nodded getting up and adjusting his uniform.

 

"Meanwhile, I did promise to have the BakToid princess home before dark, so, miLady, if you'd care to accompany me?" He holds his hold out to her.

 

"Don't make me hurt you." She said as she took his arm instead. Her good-natured acceptance of the jibe came through thier bond, however.

 

Tey smiled as they walked out the door, arm in arm - just another high level luncheon handled successfully, the gossips said.

 

-------

 

Sighing she rose and stretched before heading over to her to her bag to rummage for some fresh clothes as Vi’ika came over to nuzzle her.

[Moon Knight]

Coming to when Mirdala shifted in bed, Kandor listened to her brief conversation but didn't catch much beyond his name being mentioned. He wasn't sure why she felt it was necessary to speak to whoever it was in a language he couldn't understand, but he supposed there were still some issues where it was better for him not to know all the details... just as he was keeping case files from her. Regardless, it meant it was business about her aliit, likely involving plans for the day. Mirdala was officially back in the Journeyman Protectors they would no doubt meet up soon with the team Taen had assigned for the investigation.

 

As he got dressed his dream came back to him and he pondered on it a bit more. He wasn't sure if it had been a Moon Knight vision or just a regular dream. The mirrored armor was definitely reminiscent of that from the RAGE attack, and the clear sense of foreboding seemed almost like one of the cautionary Moon Knight visions such as the one where Marc had called his attention to Piccolo. And yet, this had been much less clear than those cases, and Marc had not appeared. In fact, Marc had been unusually silent since things had calmed down -- there had been significant periods where he couldn't go a single night without being visited for some small message or another.

 

He shook his head. The Moon Knight memories were there. The power hadn't forsaken him. With or without the visions, he would do his duty. Mirdala and her aliit had actually strengthened his desire to uphold his oath. Meeting them and seeing how they interacted, as well as exploring Mirdala's past, had shown him something that was worth fighting for even in the absence of his ideals. Had shown him just how complicated her and their lives were. Had shown him just how foolish he had been saying what he had before Mirdala had left.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

“Morning,” she greeted him as he came back up the steps from dressing. She’d just finished pulling on a fresh tank top and pants.

 

“That was my newest partner, Prentiss. I’ve got the coordinates for our meet up. We’ll go as soon as we have some breakfast.”

 

She finished lacing up her boots and added, “Sleep well? I hope I didn’t disturb you."

[Moon Knight]

"Well enough for a new environment," he said. Kandor gestured at the overturned weapons rack and other scattered items and winked. "I think you disturbed the loft more than you disturbed me, Mird'ika."

 

Once they were set and had made an attempt to leave the loft in a similar state to how they had found it, the two headed over to the house, where they found Laesha making breakfast. Most of the aliit had headed out at the crack of dawn to get to their various jobs, but Tresha and the pregnant Tannae were there. Fett had taken a bit of a liking to Tresha, recognizing how close she was to Mirdala and finding her to be on the quiet side rather like himself. The group made light conversation over breakfast before Mirdala and Kandor excused themselves to get prepped and head out to their meeting with Prentiss.

 

Back in the barn, they suited up in their beskar'game, Kandor finding that he was quickly adjusting to the new plates to the point where he could already armor up by rote, then it was off to the ship and to meet their team.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

The speeder pulled up towards the small, unfamiliar farm about a half-hour ride from the Ad’Nort’s stead.

 

Mirdala smiled warmly as she climbed out of her speeder and noticed the fit human man walking towards her, arms spread and a smile on his face.

 

"Soresh," she laughed, running to meet him. "I didn't know I was coming to meet an old friend!"

 

She looked the man up and down quickly. Soresh Delavvo, the middle son of Jorbe Ad'Gorans old commander Erich, was the spitting image of his dad. She had to look close to see any trace of his buir, Ciria, but it was really only in his eyes, which were lighter and rounder than his fathers had been.

 

"Well," Soresh laughed, hugging her with a scrape of metal plates, "I don't tend to advertise when I'm having company to the neighors much, and especially not with you and your...Hunt-partner around." He shrugged, obviously not sure of her exact relationship to Prentiss. He looked at the man she’d brought with her, “Who’s this?"

 

“This is my other hunt-partner, Kandor Nor’an,” she indicated Kandor.

 

"Is he here," she asked, looking around.

 

Soresh nodded, looking around slowly. "Indeed he is," He said. "If you'd move your speeder into one of the barns, and then come to the shed in the Tendil nut grove, we should be able to run him down."

 

After Mirdala had obediantly parked the speeder under cover, she wandered in the direction Soresh had indicated.

 

As she approached the building, she was greeted by TeVerd coming out of it, out of rig and covered in sweat and grime. He was futilely trying to wipe the grit off with a shop rag.

 

He stopped when he noticed her. "I seriously expected it to take you longer to untangle yourself from the Ad'Norts and come out when I commed you." He waved inside the shed. "Go have a look before your curiosity shorts out what little restraint you have."

 

Quirking an eyebrow in a grand imitation of his own use of the gesture, she stepped through the doors, leaving the men outside.

 

Inside, the shops floor had been levered up to one side to reveal the dirt and gravel foundation. Three low mounds disturbed the flatness of the material, while there were also two shallow pits sunk into the strata, as well. The mounds were decorated, one with a utility belt and oil-stained flight jacket, one with a battered assault rifle, and carefully set face up, sunk halfway, a two-tone green buyce marked the third mound. Next to this mound was one of the shallow recesses.

 

She paused. Mandos normally didn't do graves. They saved physical tokens of their loved ones and let go of any emotional ties to the flesh that had housed them. The fact that not only were there multiple graves, but graves that were situated to be easily hidden, was worryingly significant.

 

The taller man regarded Kandor for a moment before extending his own arm in introduction, “Prentiss, or Pren in a pinch. Constable Ad'Goran told me we’d have an extra on the team."

[Moon Knight]

Kandor greeted Soresh, not quite sure where the man fit in to Mirdala's life. He didn't look like aliit, though that was hardly a prerequisite, and she didn't introduce him as such, so he assumed he was another contact from her Journeyman Protector days. After shaking the human's hand he headed off after Mirdala to meet Prentiss.

 

It turned out Prentiss was another 7-foot-tall mountain of a man. Fett wondered for a moment at all the unusually tall men in Mirdala's various circles. The Ageless and Ageless hybrids were one thing -- they weren't human, and it was normal for them to be this tall. But Rale Sindak -- the ConSec member Mirdala had been seen with on Triple Zero -- and now Prentiss both appeared human enough but towered over Fett by a full foot.

 

He shook Prentiss' hand. "Kandor Nor'an. I'm at the team's disposal," he introduced himself. He hadn't failed to notice how eager his partner had been to see Prentiss, who seemed to be studying him with a critical gaze. He'd been getting that a lot over the past couple days -- everyone seemed to be sizing him up, the mysterious man Mirdala had brought with her on her first trip yaim in six years. He supposed it was fair and he was capable of handling with the pressure. "How do you know Mirdala? Worked with her before?"