The Fury was flying at top speed out of the atmosphere. Our ride was considerably smoother now that no enemy starfighters were chasing it down. Instead we were leaving behind the massive dogfight in the skies over Nur. It was a pitched battle as red blaster fire filled the sky in every direction. Both visually and from the scanners though, it was clear that every moment fewer and fewer Torrents were in the air.

“This is crazy, vultures shouldn’t be able to match clone starfighters. There weren’t even that many,” remarked Caleb.

“True, but this is simply a defeat in detail,” I remarked after checking the scanners again.

“A what?” he asked.

I gave the kid a quizzical look. I would have chuckled too if the movement wouldn’t agitate my chest burns, which seemed to be far deeper than I thought at first.

“You were training to be a commander, weren’t you? Those torrents weren’t ready for any vultures to attack. The ones behind us were caught off guard and destroyed. The rest were were too spread out from their patrols to mount a coherent defense. So, in each engagement, our vultures had overwhelming numbers. This is a defeat in detail, even if by circumstance,” I explained.

“That…makes a lot of sense,” remarked Caleb. The Venator was now looming ahead of us, so he slowed down and began turning to take a wide birth. Upon checking our shields, I noticed that we had recharged close to full capacity.

“No, take us straight for their engines,” I redirected him.

“But you said-“

“Yeah, I didn’t expect us to make it out of the skies this intact,” I cut him off. “We have a payload of concussion missiles to send,” I replied. The Fury wasn’t the most highly armed ship. In fact, it paled in comparison to many ships its size, but it wasn’t a slouch either. Two laser turrets, two front-facing laser cannons, and a sizeable payload of concussion missiles were more than enough to get the job done. Any more armaments and you’d either slow it down or draw power from other important systems like the shields.

Caleb complied and turned the controls enough to give us a heading that went for a shallow dive near the engines of the capital ship.

“So, where’d you learn that defeat in detail thing?” he asked me.

“The better question is what the hell Billaba was teaching you about commanding armies,” I replied.

The scanner pinged a few groups of fighters heading our way. I would have been worried, but the rear-viewer made it clear they were droids.

“They must be almost finished at this point,” I remarked. Caleb nodded as close to fifty fighters screamed past us at blinding speeds. Vultures were about as fast as a tie-fighter making them faster than the soon-to-be-famous x-wing. They were smaller and cheaper, but had about the same amount of firepower as an x-wing too.

“I may have over planned for this battle,” I mused. Before we even got close to Venator, the swarm of vultures let loose its entire armament of concussion missiles beneath the ship’s shields causing a series of explosions around their turbo-laser batteries.

As we closed in for our bombing run, I dialed up Telro for a status report.

“Minimal damage to our capital ships thus far. We lost twenty-two star fighters, a number far below my previous calculations,” the droid explained over the coms.

“Mine as well. Don’t bother rearming those squadrons that are returning, just have them dock. And have the rest of our fighters redirect their last runs towards their engines so we can leave,” I replied.

“Sir, should we not press the advantage and destroy the ship?” asked Telro. By this point, we were in range, so I used my one good arm to flick open the button-cap and pressed down hard on the launcher. A slew of silver and blue rockets slammed into their main engines unimpeded before detonating beneath the ship’s armor. It was probably a cool explosion, but we didn’t get a good look since Caleb took us below the Venator to escape the blast zone.

“Nah, it would be a waste of missiles. I’d wager she was set for the scrap yard anyway,” I explained.

“I will proceed with the readjustments,” replied Telro before we cut the line.

Just as we cleared the front of the Venator and made it into open space, another set of explosions plumed out from behind the large ship. Out of the fire and smoke, the rest of the vultures blasted by us at blinding speeds.

“We really need to upgrade our sub-light engines,” I remarked as the swarm closed in on their respective munificents.

Holding on for dear life while the ship rocked back in forth from explosions was becoming the norm inside the bridge of the Guardian. So, Relquan was no longer surprised when another set knocked out one of their main engines while a steady stream of blasts rocked their hull from all sides.

By the time he steadied himself, a single bright spot appeared on the horizon. That damned black ship that caused this whole mess was right in front of them.

“There it is!” he yelled frantically. “I want everything we have shooting at that kriffin-“ he was cut off once more when a significantly larger explosion sent him to the floor.

The poor man couldn’t even get up before the ship was rocked with a second shudder from explosions and bright blue flashes of electricity. Then the bridge went dark.

Instead of trying to stand, Relquan just rolled over onto his back. “Status report, anyone?”

“We just lost all power. I believe a few ion blasts made it past the failing shields,” one of his men responded.

Relquan groaned before crawling to his feet. He looked out of the transparisteel viewports just in time to see the three munificents that had disabled their ship slowly turn and then accelerate impossibly fast as they entered hyperspace.

“OK lads, new objective. Our shipboard recorders were scrubbed by the ion attacks. I want it noted that a massive remnant fleet attacked us with overwhelming firepower. Is that clear?”

“Kriff that stings!” I grumbled. The local anesthetic wasn’t completely set before the damn 2-1B surgical droid started cutting my burns out. I’m pretty sure he didn’t do it on purpose, but you never know. One look at the menacing robot doctor would be enough to scare a child away from the hospital for good. I’m not sure who designed them, but by God, it looked more like a torture droid than something made for healing.

“My apologies, but there are many wounds to heal,” it offered. I just closed my eyes and tried to accept my fate as I let it go to work. One of the main issues with bacta was that it didn’t properly regenerate cauterized flesh. Sure, you’d survive as it patched you up with scar tissue, but for true regeneration, you needed clean cuts.

“Is this a good time?” asked Billaba from the door of the medbay. We were currently docked with the M2 in a derelict system to the galactic south.

“As good as any. What’s up?” I replied through gritted teeth.

“I was hoping to discuss our next steps,” she explained.

“Urgh!” I groaned as the droid removed an uncomfortable amount of burned flesh from my shoulder. “That’s fine, I have some things to say but I wasn’t sure how to bring them up,” I replied.

She nodded and closed the door behind her, leaving only the two of us and an unconscious Bariss in the room. I was seated on one of the operating tables so Billaba took one of the waiting chairs beside it. Bariss was currently in the bacta-tank whilst being pumped full of nutrients. The healing required a lot of energy and that wasn’t something her body had in spades. She also still hadn’t awoken from whatever trance we found her in.

“You mentioned there was a large group of Jedi survivors,” she started.

“Yeah, but your nerf herding council never told me where their hiding place was,” I replied. Then I added, “It may have been my fault. I got a little heated over their training methods at our last meeting.”

“But you thought we should take the younglings to Alderaan,” she stated.

“The Queen, or Bail, or someone will know their location, or at least how to find them. But…” I started to explain before faltering for the words.

“But what?”

“I’m not sure how to say this,” I replied before taking a deep breath. This had been bugging me ever since we met the two on Ord Mantell. So, I went for it and launched into a complete explanation of what I was trying to say. I told her how she wasn’t supposed to survive. Caleb should have changed his name and gone on the run. He and General Cham Syndulla’s daughter, Hera, would fall in love and find happiness together. I got momentarily distracted talking about Cham's rebelion. Eventually I got back on track though and discussed how, with Caleb's support, she would become one of the most important leaders of the rebellion and then later the New Republic.

When I finished, there was a ponderous silence between the two of us for a while. Then she said, “if that was my, our fate, then it would have come to pass. If Caleb is meant to leave the order-“

“Not leave. He falls in love as a Jedi and dies as a Jedi,” I said cutting her off.

She regarded me with a strange look.

“He was the proof or maybe the exception. His attachments did nothing but make him a better person,” I explained.

“The code is quite clear on this front Lord Zaros,” she replied.

“Kriff your code Master Billaba!” I said with exasperation. “Listen I’m not telling you to drop the kid off on Ryloth or even abandon the entire code. Just don’t make him feel guilty about his feelings and don't try to keep the two away from each other,” I explained.

“I will take it under consideration,” she replied. Then she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall. We sat in silence for a while. The only noise came from the vitals monitor on the bacta tank and my occasional gripe with the 2-1B.

Billaba was the first to break the silence. “Tell me of the girl,” she finally said.

“The girl?” I asked.

“As he is my padawan, I should get to know his supposed future wife,” she replied. I looked over at her. Gone was the serene and emotionless face of a Jedi Master. It was replaced by a playful smile, reminiscent of a matchmaking mother.

“Well, I’ve never actually met her, but she’s supposed to become an expert pilot…”

“This place is disgusting,” I said as we stepped off the Fury’s landing ramp. Alha and Alhoy nodded while Merrin looked offended.

“…I was going to say nostalgic,” she replied. Oh, how the tables have turned.

It was only a few hours ago that our various groups chose to go our separate ways. The Bad Batch went back to Ord Mantell. Cid was in dire need of their team for some type of gun running. I gave Billaba and her younglings a neimoidian shuttle for their trip to Alderaan. I'll be honest those shuttles are like a dime a dozen at this point. We have so many between all the ships we found and they're utterly worthless save for as a freighter and troop transport.

Telro made the long trip back to Yavin where he and Kalani would group-up before heading to the new staging point out in the unknown regions. Once I realized just how large our fleet had become, I knew Yavin wouldn’t be a good hiding spot. Instead, we needed to be farther off the grid. So, I instructed them to head for the long-forgotten Parnassos system. Though it was still on some star maps, the system was declared void of life after Con Star Mining fell apart. I was reasonably sure nobody would be going there for decades.

Thus, we were back down to the original crew and an unconscious Bariss.

There was an awkward moment before Billaba left. She was under the assumption that Bariss would be leaving with them. It seemed to take her unawares when I was adamant that she wouldn’t be heading back with the Jedi. The girl was no longer a part of the order. Sure, she had more than served her sentence for bombing the temple with all she experienced since. That didn't mean she could go back though. Besides, I didn’t break her out of prison and cause a space battle just to give her over to a group that was my reluctant ally at best. She would hopefully be useful in the future.

Before that though, I had promises to fulfill. Namely, we were on the eleventh moon of Jhas, Jhas Krill. We were stepping out onto the disgusting tropical swamp, to finally reunite Merrin with an adult Nightsister.

The scanner indicated a small structure about a mile to the north of where we landed, so we set off on a hike through the muddy ground and stagnant waters.

What started off as an uncomfortable walk, slowly morphed into something more sinister though.

As we got closer to the place, the shadows grew longer and seemed to morph into odd shapes. The trees looked more gnarled, and the swamp felt generally more hostile. Many of the moon’s animals seemed to stay away and disappear. All the animals that is save for the bugs which gradually became more prevalent. Soon the singsong of nature was replaced by nothing but an incessant buzzing.

“There’s certainly magic here,” I noted.

“Sister Shelish was always quite talented,” replied Merrin. She was in a good mood. The normally cool and collected girl was showing a very uncharacteristically toothy smile.

“Agh!” screamed Alhoy who jumped and splashed mud everywhere. When he saw me wiping the grime from my clothes he explained, “I saw something. A shadow or a monster!”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m more likely to kill you than whatever you thought you saw,” I replied.

“Was that supposed to be comforting?” he said with a little less fear in his voice.

Alha smacked her neck. “I’m more worried about these bugs,” she said while showing everyone the remains of some large alien mosquito.

Then an impossibly tall and awkwardly lanky dark figure appeared before us. Though almost none of its features could be seen, its striking red eyes did stand out.

“Who approaches my domain?” the creature said with an almost familiar unnatural voice. Completely undaunted, Merrin ran towards the it.

“Sister!” she yelled before jumping into the creature. She was fully enveloped by the darkness and disappeared.

“Merrin!” cried Alhoy before staggering forward a few steps.

I sighed at his continued fear of the place. “Come on, its just an illusion,” I explained. Then I stepped forward and through the dark illusion.

On the other side, the swamp was back to normal. The trees and animals were back, and the shadows were no longer twisting and curling in unnatural positions. The bugs didn't seem to decrease though.

“Oh, wow did you find-“ Alhoy started to say when he came through the shadow before I wacked his chest. In front of us, Merrin had found her sister. And, for the second time today, I saw a side to her I hadn’t yet seen.

Shelish was there. Much like every other Nightsister, her skin was pure white, and her hair was silver. Unlike how I remembered her though, she was far younger. It made sense since her portrayal back on Earth was after the Death Star exploded the first time. That was around twenty years in the future. I’d probably guess she was in her twenties or early thirties at the moment.

Merrin attached to herself to the sister’s hip with a massive hug. Tears streamed down her face as she repeated, “It was so hard. It was just so hard!”

“Jhas tea?” she asked as we entered the wooden hut. Shelish had a small compound that she had built in on a small bit of dry upland. The largest of these was her own hut, though there were other buildings that seemed to function as a shed and workshop.

“If you’re offering,” I replied.

“Good, the firewood is by the door, be a dear for me,” she said without turning around.

I nodded to Alhoy, who stepped back outside while grumbling to himself. Meanwhile, Shelish led us to a parlor with a few gnarled wooden chairs and a small open fireplace. It had a rudimentary teakettle hanging over the top. There must have already been water inside, because all Shelish did was add a few leaf clumps in after she had the fire going. What came out was a disconcertingly grey steaming liquid which she served to us in wooden cups.

“I take it you are here for more than a mere reunion?” she asked after we sat and sipped the bitter teas for a while. I glanced over at Merrin as she sat close to her sister. Her eyes were still puffy from letting out what was at least a year’s worth of loneliness and repressed feelings.

“While bringing Merrin was the primary goal, I am aware of your abilities. I would be willing to offer you a possible alliance,” I explained.

She made a show of spitting to the side before replying, “an alliance with your kind? Do you think I don’t know what happened to Mother Talzin?”

“Please. I am not Sidious, and you are not Talzin. I will enjoy it if our relationship becomes something friendlier, but I am prepared to offer you information in return for a specific service and leave it at that,” I replied.

“If you speak of what I think you do, then you had best deliver some important information,” she said.

“Two nightsisters are better than one, and I am happy that Merrin will be able to complete her studies under you,” I replied with a nod to the young girl. “But I do know the general location of a third sister. More importantly, I know what makes her special,” I continued.

“And in return, you would ask for my magic?”

“Well, not for me,” I said with a smile before gesturing towards Alha. “For her.”

“Me?!” Alha asked incredulously.

“You asked to be my apprentice,” I replied. “Though I am training you, your current self may never be able to call upon the force, but…”

“But she can do something with her magic?” she answered me, and everyone turned to Shelish.

“I can, though it is costly for me and not the most pleasant experience for you,” she replied definitively.

“Woah Woah, shouldn’t we talk about this first?” interjected Alhoy.

I turned to look at my two companions before replying, “Obviously I’m not going to force her, and it’s not like we have to do this right now.”

“I would also need to decide if what you have is worth what you ask,” interjected Shelish.

I sighed and then said, “I’ll be honest. Some of this is speculation. What do you know about beings made of clay and given life by their creators?”

She cocked her head then answered, “you speak of golems?”

“Possibly. There is a Nightsister who was born when a witch crafted her body of the earth of Dathomir and gave her life through the planet's ichor,” I replied.

“Impossible! Such a creature would be little more than a droid,” she dismissed the idea.

I turned to Merrin and asked if she remembered when I spoke of Yenna. She nodded.

So, I asked if she was like a droid.

Merrin shook her head and then questioned my motives, “What is that supposed to mean? Yenna was just like everyone else.”

“Talzin kept many secrets, and Yenna’s birth was one you weren't privy to,” I explained.

“And she still lives?” asked Shelish.

“I made sure many of our sisters joined our ancestors, but she was not among them. I couldn’t find any traces of her,” explained Merrin.

From there I explained the stories of clay-born from back on earth, especially the Greek myths of human creation and the Pseudo-Greek story of Wonder Woman’s origin as a clay person. I also tried to explain how force-related births seemed to have power in the galaxy and mentioned Anakin’s possible origin. A girl born of the ichor that coursed with the power of the force would not be unlike how Sidious manipulated his birth.

“Why tell us this though? Why not find the girl yourself?” she asked.

“I can barely teach Alha how to swordfight. Some girl with powers beyond her control isn’t exactly something I have time for,” I said with a shrug. That was the truth. I had entertained the idea of finding Yenna but ultimately abandoned it for that reason. Well, that and the fact that I wasn’t too interested in scouring the northern mid-rim for a single kid. That alone could take months, and we were already running a pretty high profile.

Shelish nodded, but then didn’t say anything else while she sipped her tea.

“Then would you empower her?” I asked after a while.

Shelish drained the last of her tea before setting the cup to the side. She put her hand on Merrin’s shoulder. The girl looked up and nodded at her sister. Shelish seemed to take note of her acceptance and finally replied, “I will, but only if it’s what she wants.”

Everyone turned to Alha, who divided her attention between us. First she stared into her brother’s eyes. I couldn’t see her face, but I could read the apprehension on his face. Then she turned to me and searched my own face as if she was looking for clues. I noticed her glance first to my chest, then to my shoulder before she filled with determination. She finally turned back to Shelish and replied, “I do. I do want it.”

Alhoy jumped out of his seat. “I thought we were going to talk about this?” he yelled. He looked incredulous at the quick development.

Shelish on the other hand looked a miffed at the outburst.

“Maybe you two can discuss this outside. As I said, this doesn’t have to happen so fast,” I offered.

“Good,” Alhoy replied before grabbing Alha by the hand and pulling her out the front door. Their departure left the three of us in awkward silence.

“Could I trouble you for a refill?” I asked, and Shelish obliged.