10 years after the fall of Malachor, the death of Kriea and the loss of Bao Dur. Master Miriya Vohn, formerly known as the Exile is the founder and head of the new Jedi Academy. In the years since Malachor, her crew helped her rebuild the training facilities. Mandalore returned to his men on Dxun, overseeing the rebirth of his people. His tenacity and solid leadership inspired Visas so much that after the rebuild was completed and her training came to an end she left in search of other Miralukans and began the monumental task of rebuilding her home world. Mira and Atton also completed Jedi training under the watchful eye of the Exile and spent the early years of the Academy searching the Galaxy for force-sensitives to send to their Master. Now they are both top instructors in their respective fields. Atton's natural charm has served him well as an instructor of curriculum and he is adored by his students. He teaches younglings to hear the Force, older students to bolster their abilities with it and all to defend themselves against the intrusion of the Dark Side. He is also a Jedi Ace and trains a small squadron of elite Jedi pilots. Mira's Mandalorian upbringing is her strength and she instructs prospective Jedi in weapons and combat. Her skills are second to none and she has produced some of the finest fighters that the Exile has ever seen. At the request of President Onasi of Telos, Mical left the academy six years ago to take a post as a diplomat. He is now a widely respected Galactic Senator and Judge and his recent appointment to a high-profile corruption trial has thrust him into the news in the past few weeks.

The Exile smiled wistfully as she snapped off the news monitor. Senator Mical D'Artagne had barely changed at all in ten years. He had the same large, honest blue eyes, the same soft blonde hair and the same smile as the day she met him. There wasn't a hint of age, no lines and no graying at the temple. In that respect, he was a lot like her former Master Loren Kavar. That man had never looked older than thirty, even right before his death at sixty-seven. A sharp rap at the door snapped her attention back to the present. "Enter," she called casually.

The door swung open to reveal Atton Rand with a slightly tense expression on his face. Not wanting to appear unconcerned at his distress, she hid the pleasure that she felt creeping into her features. Even as a Jedi Master and Instructor he still had the same rumpled, casually sexy look that he bore as her pilot. There were no other words for it and the robes couldn't hide it. The man was as magnetic as the poles of Yavin Prime. His thick dark hair hung carelessly over one hazel eye and she found herself wishing that she had a credit for every young Padawan she caught staring and blushing at him. She leaned back in her chair, waiting for him to plop down opposite her and lift his feet onto her desk.

It didn't happen.

"Atton, what is it?" she asked, leaning forward, her concern rising.

He bent his right elbow, slowly raising his forearm and revealing a small memory chip tucked between his index and middle fingers. "It's an encrypted message that just came in…I wanted to bring it to you personally," he said seriously.

Her brow furrowed with worry as she reached forward, taking the chip from his long fingers. He rounded the edge of her desk, standing behind her left shoulder as she inserted it into her desktop system and played it.

"Greetings," came a static-filled voice as the small hologram of a Mon Calamarian rose from the surface of her desk, "My name is Rab Bakra and I am the chief aide to Senator D'Artagne. My master advised me that if circumstances ever became dire that I should contact you, Master Vohn. I have sent you this message because he has fallen ill. The Senator has contracted Knowt's disease and has been hospitalized. He is stable, but he is in very serious condition. Please Master Vohn," he continued, lowering his voice, "I…I have a bad feeling about all of this. I have never known the master to suffer from even the slightest illness. Considering the nature of the trial he was set to judge, his diagnoses seems a bit too convenient to me. I am troubled because the Senate has only postponed the case dependant on his health. If there are…other factors at work, I am concerned about what might happen to him. Please Master Vohn, I don't know who else to turn to…he's in the secure diplomatic wing of the Central Coruscant Hospital. I have arranged for your admission, but you will be known as his sister Miriya D'Artagne. Tell no one of your true identity. I will keep this out of the news for as long as I possibly can. Please…hurry…"

With that, the message flickered and disappeared.

Miriya frowned and immediately turned to her database, pulling up information on Knowt's Disease.

It wasn't good.

Knowt's Disease attacked the tissues of the body, breaking them down beginning with the limbs and ending with the chest cavity. Death was assured and to date there was no known cure.

Biting her lip, she searched again, this time looking for potential treatments, experimental or otherwise. She started slightly at the hand on her shoulder. She had forgotten that Atton was there.

"Whaddya say, Chief?" he asked quietly.

She turned and looked him in the eye. "I'm leaving within the hour, find HK and make sure he's on board."

"Right," he said, releasing her shoulder and moving around her desk to the door, "That'll give me just enough time to grab my squadron to take over my classes; I'll meet you on the ramp of the Hawk."

"Oh NO," she said sternly, planting her hands on her desk and standing quickly, "I have no idea what I'm walking into here, it could easily be a trap! There's no way I'm risking another Master. You may not have noticed, but there are only three of us here at the Academy!"

"Listen sister," he drawled, "My squad is the best of the best. They're more than capable of keeping things running while we're gone. You heard the squid yourself, you need to hurry and NO ONE can get you there faster than I can. You know it's true!"

Miriya crossed her arms stubbornly, rolling her eyes, "What is that you're always teaching about pride and where it leads Atton?" she snarked sarcastically. "Look, I don't have the time to argue with you right now so I'm not going to. I'm going to be on the Hawk in…45 minutes. I will be taking off in 50 minutes. If you can't get it together with all of your classes by then, I'm not waiting."

"Deal!" he cried, dashing out the door and snapping it shut behind him.

She pressed her fingertips to the bridge of her nose. "All of these years and some things never change," she muttered. Atton was as stubborn as ever. Miriya released her nose, grinning to herself. She had told him 45 minutes, but she was going to get off Dantooine as quickly as she possibly could.

Reaching for the communicator in her belt, she strode quickly towards her quarters, "HK, has Master Rand found you yet?" she barked.

"Statement No Master, I have not had any contact with that meatbag all day," he replied.

"Good," she said, "HK, I need you on board of the Hawk as quickly as possible. I want you to get to the medical bay and plug into the library. Search for Knowt's Disease, symptoms, treatments and anything else that can disguise itself as Knowt's, you got that?"

"Rrrrrroger!" the droid replied, "Will there be anything else, Master?"

"Yes, I need you to avoid Master Rand at all costs. He can't see you leave or board the ship and you can't answer him if he calls. Can you do that?" she asked.

"Exasperation Master, I AM insulted. You know that my primary functions include a stealth ability that is unfathomable to squishy persons like yourself and Master Rand. I can hear his particular brand of sloshing a mile away and avoidance will be easy."

"Excellent," she replied, "I'll see you on board in ten minutes."

With that she jammed the communicator back in her belt pouch and grabbed a small satchel, cramming in as many civilian substitutes for her robes as she could find. Satisfied she gave her room one last scan and headed out, avoiding all of Atton's usual routes and hoping that he was wasting plenty of time searching for HK.

Bounding up the ramp, she called cheerfully towards the Medical Bay, "Ok, let's prepare this baby for take off. I'm not waiting another second!"

"You got it," came a familiar voice from the cockpit.

"Dammit RAND!" she growled, stalking towards the source and glaring at the back of his head.

"What?" he slurred smugly, "You didn't think I actually trusted you to waste the better part of an hour, did you? I changed and came straight here. I made all of my calls from the Comms Terminal. Nice try though…"

"Just punch it, you smug bastard," she chuckled, breaking her stern façade and dropping into the seat next to him.

He laughed, urging the Hawk upwards, "You got it, Chief. Next stop Coruscant."