Pyrrha sat on her bed with Ruby, watching another Juyo holovid. The more she watched, the more Pyrrha came to understand the frenzied style.

"It's not actually random," Pyrrha said.

"Huh-" Ruby cocked her head, unintentionally nudging Pyrrha. The taller woman leaned her head against her charge, "Oh! I see."

The key was that none of the techniques technically led into each other, instead being designed to be able snap between them (or return to rest) at will. It was probably more exhaustive, but was also unpredictable.

The something inside of Pyrrha that had awoken during her fight with Devotek resonated with the moves. The fast, lively actions looked right.

"Ruby?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah?" Ruby responded, turning her head to Pyrrha, "Whatcha need, Pyr?"

"Do you want to go spar before lunch?" Pyrrha asked.

Ruby blinked a couple of times as she stared at Pyrrha, before a large grin spread across her face, "Sure! I'll go grab my sword."

Pyrrha frowned as Ruby jumped up, rolling across her own bed until she was hanging halfway across it. Ruby's voice had changed as she said that, slipping into something slightly maniacal.

Pushing it out of mind for the moment, Pyrrha stood up herself, walking over to the sheathed swords propped up against the wall. Ýmnos hummed softly as she picked it and Miló up.

"You'll have your fun soon," Pyrrha murmured.

Ýmnos hummed again.

Sliding on the larger blade, Pyrrha put Miló at her side. She smiled down at her weapon of choice. Already, she could picture how to use the moves she had seen with the leaf shaped blade.

"Ready!" Ruby said, holding her vibroblade by the sheath. As Pyrrha opened the door, the guarded look reappeared on Ruby's face.

"Where are we going?" Pyrrha asked, reaching out to touch Ruby's wrist. She didn't like seeing Ruby like this. Ruby was happy, loud and hyper, not impassive, quiet and calm.

"Training rooms," Ruby said, though she didn't protest the hand wrapped around her wrist, "They're on the upper floor."

The halls of Korriban's academy were, outside of the faint whirring of climate control, stunningly silent for before noon. So silent, in fact, that Pyrrha stopped Ruby to peer into one of the rooms. Seated on the floor, their legs bent under them, was a collection of young teens, each surrounded with a dark miasma.

Pyrrha met the yellow eyes of the pacing instructor, who jerked his head meaningfully. Retracting her head from the room, Pyrrha turned to her friend, "Why are the- Ruby?"

"Yeah?" Ruby said, sounding like she wasn't really paying attention. Something only reinforced by her eyes being glued to her left hand.

"What's that?"

"Spider," Ruby said like she was discussing the weather. Considering her feelings on the subject matter, it probably was equivalent.

Crawling across Ruby's left hand was a large spider. Pyrrha could see the bug's mouth moving slightly.

"Why do you have a spider on you hand?" Pyrrha hid her distress behind a layer of calm. The Deathstalker had turned her off to all arachnids.

Ruby, however, had a deep love for bugs of all sorts, something that had shocked Pyrrha the first time she had come across it. They had been sitting around waiting for a shipment on a desert planet in the Outer Rim when she had turned to see Ruby crouched down and watching a scorpion.

Ruby didn't respond, still too transfixed by the spider, a wide grin on her face.

"Ruby!" Pyrrha said, "sparring?"

"Oh! Right," Ruby let the spider back onto the wall, turning to Pyrrha, "Ok, lets go."

"I didn't know kids came to Korriban."

"Every Force-sensitive has to come to one of the academies," Ruby said ,"it's the law. You can be executed for not sending one. Trust me, I know."

- X Weiss X-

Weiss leaned against the railing, eyes trained on the holocommunicator in the center of the room. After a minute, the machine turned on, projecting a slightly blue toned version of Blake.

"I didn't expect you to call so soon," Weiss said. The quality of the call was too good for a handheld. Packing everything required to project a hologram plus a comlink left even the top of the market ones with a certain graininess to them.

"I wasn't going to," Blake said, "But I wanted to let you know we were fine, and tell you all something. Where's Ren and Yang?"

"Yang's working on the Dragon and Ren's with Master Par. I can go get them, if you want?"

"No," Blake said, "it's not super important. I just thought you'd all like a heads up on how things are going," the corner of Blake's mouth tugged up, "Yang's worried about something?"

"Ruby," Weiss said instantly. Both of them knew their friend's habits enough to know she only worked on the Dragon when something severe broke or she was stressed out.

The smile disappeared into an impassive mask, but Blake's bow, as it tended to, gave her away. It drooped forwards just enough to give away that the thought of Ruby made her sad.

"We all are," Blake said, "She doesn't deserve being stuck on Korriban… I wish I could be there with them."

"I think we'd all jump at the chance," Weiss said, eyes roaming away from Blake. Idly looking for something to take her mind off the topic of her best friend's current location, Weiss dug into her coat pocket, pulling out a credcoin and began to flip it.

"I wish we could get to Korriban and grab her," Blake continued, "Yang's right, this doesn't feel like the right thing to do."

"And getting ourselves killed is?" Weiss shot back, "Korriban is one of the most defended places of the galaxy. Even if we could land, there'd be no way we'd be able to get off."

"I know," Blake said, "but I can't help worrying. What if the Sith get to them?"

"What do you mean 'get to them'?" Weiss asked. Did Blake think the Sith would kill Ruby before she could be saved? As much as Weiss hated the idea, she knew that it was a possibility.

"I mean..." Blake's ears drooped further, "I know what it's like to be around people like that. It can get to you, make you think that they're right."

"Ruby's strong enough to resist it," Weiss said. She had no doubt Ruby would make it through this without being shaken.

"But is that a good idea? What if they kill her for not being Sith enough for them?"

"Then…" Weiss stopped for a second, merely watching the coin continue to rise and fall with her flipping, "Then it's up to you to save her from herself if you have to. You can break through whatever form of mind control the Sith do to her, I know it."

Blake nodded, "I'm not sure I can, but I'll try."

"So, why did you call?" Weiss asked, "it can't have been just that."

"I wanted to let you know how things were going… and I have some information."

"Ok," Weiss said, "Shoot."

"Vito got us some weaponry and a job, as we're actually in the back room, I'll be heading out as soon as I'm done with this call. The place to stay will take a bit longer, but he said he should be able to pull a few strings and have us set up by the end of the week."

"Great," Weiss gave a smile, "What else?"

"Pyrrha's…" Blake breathed in, "Pyrrha's on Korriban with Ruby."

Weiss froze. Pyrrha was on Korriban? Pyrrha was on Korriban? How did that happen?

"What? How?" Weiss asked, ignoring the coin hitting the floor as she stared at Blake.

"She was with with an imperial family, they pulled some strings to get her there or something."

"I… I see," Weiss said, pressing her lips tight. Pyrrha had been working with the Empire? After what they had done to Ruby? "I should let you get to the job."

"Ok," Blake said, looking surprised as the hologram turned off.

Weiss walked to the chess board, typing out another message.

Pawn to C3

- X Ruby X-

Ruby looked down at her datapad at the chirp, closing her eyes for a moment to visualize the chess board. The Sith didn't seem to care about her messaging her family, but somehow she got the feeling asking for a chess board would be a bad idea.

Then she typed out a response, Pawn to D4.

Stowing the datapad away, Ruby drew her vibroblade as Pyrrha placed Ýmnos against the wall, before drawing Miló. As the red head stepped onto the round platform they would be sparring on, Ruby entered the Makashi rest stance.

Pyrrha smiled lightly at the as she took the starting position of Juyo. The arm holding Miló above her head, and her lower body turned away from Ruby. Ohhhh, so they were trying out new styles, huh?

Ruby moved her weapon, wrapping both hands around the hilt and shifting the weapon to her left side.

"Now," Inquisitor Jarobi was pacing around the sparring platform, watching them with a class of younglings, "Ruby. I know you know the rules, but I will recount them for your friend, here."

"Yes, sir," Ruby and Pyrrha said as one, eyes trained on each other.

"First, neither of you will turn on your vibroblades. Second, neither of you are to use the Force in ways that are directly lethal. Third, when I say stop, you will stop. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," they repeated. Ruby was more focused on Pyrrha and got the feeling the other woman was much the same.

"Very well. You may begin."

One heartbeat passed, then a second. On the third, both of them moved.

Ruby dodged Pyrrha's seemingly random attacks, using the footwork she had been training to keep away from the attacks. Coiling her muscles, Ruby burst into the air, twisting her body so she landed on her feet facing Pyrrha's back and swinging for Pyrrha's side.

Pyrrha turned, angling Milo to convert the energy of the spin into an attack. Neither had time to break from the attack and dodge or block, so first blood (as it were) was drawn near simultaneously.

Ruby jumped again, watching Pyrrha turn to be waiting for Ruby… and fell, bringing her sword crashing down onto the back of Pyrrha's shoulder. A subtle shimmer of red appeared around the strike as Pyrrha grabbed Ruby by the arm and transferred it into a throw, knocking the weapon from her hand as she went.

Ruby rolled with the impact, throwing out her hand and trying to pull her vibroblade to her… come on… come on...

Ruby growled under her breath, staring at the shivering sword as Pyrrha advanced, anger buildi-

The sword flew past Pyrrha, tearing open a small gouge in her cheek that immediately sparked shut as Ruby caught the weapon and leapt to meet Pyrrha.

Ruby let her body operate on its own, dodging and clashing with Pyrrha as she mentally fused Makashi and Ataru with her own fighting style with Crescent Rose.

Improved footwork, improved acrobatics and, if they kept their promise, improved Crescent Rose…

Ruby let something between a dreamy smile and a leer slid onto her face as she imagined fighting Pyrrha like that. By that point, they would both have a year's worth of experience with the Force and these styles on top of their Huntress training.

Ruby snapped back into reality as her and Pyrrha struggled with each other, staring into Pyrrha's green eyes as she noticed Pyrrha had a similar look on her face. The other acolyte's red hair was a mess, strands of crimson falling across her forehead and into her eyes.

"I missed this," Ruby breathed, pressing harder against Miló.

"Same," Pyrrha agreed, "I can't-"

"What are you doing, slave? Shouldn't you be at your trial?" Ruby closed her eyes, sucking in breath as the moment disappeared, "Or have you realized there's no point?"

"Oh," Ruby smirked at the interruption, "Ffon! You mean you haven't finished your trial yet? Really, how would Harkun behave if he knew his pet was slower than a slave?"

"Shut up," Ffon scowled at her, "I've been delayed by fools refusing to allow me to perform my task!" the Pureblood stomped over to Jarobi, pulling a crystal pyramid, "Stand still!"

"And why," Jarobi said, drawing his lightsaber but not igniting it, "Should I allow you, an acolyte, to use that on me, an instructor?"

"Why does every slave I came across ask me that? You should be honored to be allowing your better to pass his trial!" Ffon raised the pyramid again, only for Jarobi to ignite his lightsaber.

"Forgive me," Jarobi said softly, an act offset by the red light cast across his skin, "Somehow, in the twenty years I was raised to inherit the Jarobi family and forty years I have been Sith, I had somehow been under the apparent delusion that the trials were supposed to be… trying."

"I-" Ffon looked taken aback.

"Ruby," Jarobi continued, "Would you and your friend mind taking these initiates down to their lunchroom before heading to your own? I must assist Ffon in his trial. You understand."

"Of course," Ruby broke her mask to grin in unashamed glee, "Come on, Pyr, let's get something to eat."

-X Jaune X-

Jaune was crouched down on an outcrop, peering through a pair of binoculars. After a minute, he hit the earpiece connected to his comlink, "I've got twenty hostiles around the fence."

"Lord," Horner growled, "How'd they get dug in so quick? This was supposed to have started a week ago."

"How'd they take over an entire world in a week?" Jaune responded instantly.

"...Fuck SIS," Horner's growling didn't stop, "And fuck the Brass. Why lie so obviously?"

So obviously Horner hadn't noticed it.

Instead of voicing that thought, Jaune brought things back onto topic, "Orders?"

"Hold position until we're there, Corporal," Horner said, before his came through from farther away, like had lowered the comlink without stopping it from transferring, "Syndulla! Keep trying to reach command, Euva, stay with him. the rest of you, with me, we're going to regroup with Corporal Arc."

Jaune unsheathed Crocea Mors, making sure the blade was sharp and the battery strong. It had been a pain in the neck to go through all the paperwork to be allowed to bring his sword instead of a standard issue vibroblade, but Crocea was part of him now, like Crescent Rose or Miló were to Ruby and Pyrrha.

He was probably only allowed it because he was the squad's close range assault specialist. Same reason he had an underslung scattergun on his SR-25.

The missile battery was… well, it wasn't a missile battery. Instead a massive turbolaser was pointed skyward, occasionally swerving in place to unleash a second sun into the distance, shooting at a ship well outside Jaune's sight.

"Arc," Horner said, the rest of the squad behind him as they moved to meet with Jaune, "Ready?"

"For what, Sir?" Jaune prepared himself for what he knew was coming.

"We're going in," Horner said, hooking his rappel wire onto the cliff without looking, "Someone's getting hit hard every time that gun goes off. Plus, if that that jammer is anywhere, it will be with the gun's controls."

"But are we enough?" Karle asked, swallowing and gripping his rifle harder, "They have to have at least three times the men we do down there."

"And each of those men is a Sep," Horner said as Jaune joined him, "So they're clearly a fifth as smart as our dumbest member. We can take them. Hell, Arc could probably take the entire building alone!"

Jaune probably could, Aura and all, but that wasn't the point, "And we can't get support anyways, Private. Even if we could send a request, they'd just shoot it down. We need to take out this gun, then we can call in backup. Either to take control of the gun and turn it against the Seps, or to help us push in. It's only going to get harder from here."

"Right in one, Corporal," Horner nodded, "I want you to take Karle, Rabi and Zaivic to clear the house, me and the rest will clear the perimeter."

"Yes, sir," Jaune nodd-

Then there was a flash of light from the house, and Jaune's training kicked in as he tackled Rabi and Karle to the ground before a nova of heat flew over them.

-X Blake X-

Blake climbed into the rented airspeeder, reading the dossier for their current target. A Rodian named Keegn, wanted for killing a minor Hutt's favorite slave. Worth… 10,000 credits.

Blake, not for the first time since Vito had sent her the data yesterday, stared at the number blankly. Even divided two ways, that was more money for each of them than Weiss had given them. It was a small wonder Vito had sent them this one, it would be enough to pay for a base and whatever airspeeder he planned to buy them.

"So," Nora threw herself into the car, "Where're we headin' now?"

"The landlord said that there's a bar Keegn frequents down a couple of floors," Blake said, starting the car and putting her datapad into a holder, "We'll look there."

She wasn't sure why a landlord knew that, but apparently he did.

"Nice!" Nora grabbed a bag she had been carrying when she stepped out of their quarry's apartment, "I found his datapad and a stash of credits, too! We can check the if the people on it have seen him!"

"You found that in ten minutes?" Blake asked, blinking.

"Mhh," Nora nodded, handing Blake the datapad, "It's been a while since I had to go scrounging, but I'm still good at it."

"Scrounging?" Blake asked, thinking back to her time with the Fang. Adam had never been the best with money and was both too stubborn and prideful to let Blake take care of it. He was the one in charge, so it was his responsibility. Blake had gotten used to scrounging up food, as they had almost inevitably run out of lien by the time the main branch sent money their way. But she couldn't imagine Nora scrounging for anything, "Why did you do that?"

"Lived on the streets when I was younger, before I met Ren," Nora's smile disappeared for a moment, before coming back full force, "Hey! Do ya think we could stop by a convenient store on the way there? I want to grab some candy."

"No," Blake said. Nora had lived on the steets?

"What? Why?"

"We're on the clock," Blake said, shifting the lever to angle them down as they came across one of the areas dedicated for moving between floors, "We don't know how many other people are hunting for Keegn, so we need to hurry. Besides, you're worse than Ruby with candy."

"Come on, Blakey, please~?"

"Don't," Blake said, "Call me Blakey."

"Why not? You let Ruby call you Blakey!"

"That's different," Ruby could get away with it and Pyrrha could. Nobody else, "Listen, once we're done, we can stop and you can buy all the candy you want. Deal?"

"Deal!" Nora said with a giant grin, throwing herself back to her seat as Blake leveled them out, "So~ Whatcha gonna do when we get Ruby back?"

"What do you mean?" Blake's mood immediately soured upon thinking of Ruby, her grip on the wheel growing tight.

Weiss was right, of course. There was no way onto Korriban without provoking the Empire's wrath. It still didn't make it any easier to stomach.

Blake resisted the urge to reach over and send Ruby and Pyrrha another message. They had done so through yesterday and into the night, but they had warned her they had lessons today.

Blake tried to suppress the chuckle as it occurred to her that Ruby and Pyrrha would be able to claim that they finished their schooling before Weiss, only for it to break out as she realized Jaune could make that claim.

"Well," Nora said, "How are we supposed to actually get her out of the Empire?"

"I," Blake frowned. She hadn't planned that far out, "I don't know. We'll find a way."

-X Nora X-

Nora hopped out of the car the moment there was land beneath them, not even bothering to open the door as she landed with a dull thump.

"Showoff," Blake said as she landed the car.

"It's fun!" Nora defended, crossing her arms.

"It still makes you a showoff," Blake opened her door, grabbing Gambol Shroud and strapping it to her back, "A normal human couldn't do that, or many near-human races. It makes you look like a Jedi."

Nora stuck her tongue out at Blake, "You're no fun!"

"I'm," Blake sighed rubbing at her eyes, "I'm sorry. I've been having a rough couple of days. I'm worried about Ruby."

"I am too," Nora said, "but she's not gonna be happy if we become grumps because we were worrying about her. Besides, you can always message her, right? It's what I'm doing with Ren!"

"I," Blake looked embarrassed. Or, at least, Nora thought she looked embarrassed as the faunus pushed past her, "I don't want to accidentally get her in trouble. We don't know how strict the Sith are about outside contact."

"Oh," Nora's smile shrank just a tiny bit, before immediately returning, "Then you can do it sometimes! That way we'll know she's alright and she can know we haven't forgot about her!"

"You can too," Blake said, dodging around a pair of trandoshan standing in the middle of the street, making threatening gestures to a shopkeeper, "She'd like to hear from just more than me."

"Of course I will!" Nora said, "but you're better with the planning things stuff than I am. So mine'll be just 'Hey, what's up?' and stuff like that. Are we almost there?"

"We've only been walking for a couple of minutes," Blake said.

"I know. Just curious. I wanna try these out!" Nora adjusted the missile launchers on her arms.

"We're trying to bring him in alive," Blake said, "He's worth more that way."

"Fine, Weiss," Nora stuck her tongue out again. Weiss was a lot more stingy with their credits than Ruby had ever been.

"We'll have more money for things if we bring him alive."

"Fine… but I get to try them out at a range later."

"If you want to," Blake said.

"Well, I do!" Nora nodded, ignoring Blake's snort.

"Nora?" Blake asked a few minutes later as they stood outside the bar.

"Yeah?"

"Can you go in while I wait out back? I want to be ready if he tries to run."

"Yeah, of course!" Nora grinned, watching Blake duck into the alley. Now, how to do this?

Nora pushed open the doors, doing her best to emulate the way bounty hunters walked in the vids. Kinda like a weird combination of Blake and Yang.

She felt several sets of eyes following her as she walked along, and heard a couple of snickers… Ok, this wasn't working.

Falling into a more normal walk, Nora stopped at the bar, "Hi!"

"Hello," the male twi'lek behind the bar said in Ryl, "What can I get you?"

"I'm looking for someone," Nora smiled, "apparently he's here a lot?"

"Who's that? I might be able to help you."

"A Rodian named Keegn, ever heard of him?"

"Yes. Back there," the twi'lek nodded towards the back left corner, "You are here for his bounty?"

"Yeah."

"He has a stun baton up his left sleeve, a vibrodagger up his right and a blaster behind his back," The twi'lek said dutifully, "When you turn him in, make sure they make it painful."

"You don't like him? Then why's he here?"

"Creds are creds," the man said, "but he carved up my daughter in some claim he was saving her. I won't lose sleep over him."

"Ok, Thanks!" Nora stood up, walking towards Keegn, passing a bald man who was watching them talk.

"Hey!" the Rodian looked up, "Are you Kee-"

Keegn didn't wait, pulling out his blaster and firing it at her. The shield generator Vito had given her flashed a few times as the bolts stuck it.

"So," Nora said, "Do you always shoot people you just met?"

"Shut up!" Keegn turned, running toward the back entrance and ripping it open… and walked right into Blake's waiting palm.

Electricity jumped along the glove as Keegn shuddered in place before he dropped.

"How'd you know he was there?"

"Heard him coming," Blake's bow twitched, "Come on, we should get him to the bounty office."

-X Jaune X-

Jaune staggered up, ignoring the flames along his jacket and the itching on his face as he hoisted Karle to his feet, "Are you alright?"

"I'm o- Jaune!" Karle yelped.

"What?" Jaune asked as he turned Horner over, checking him. Well, he was breathing, which was more than could be said for Zaivic.

Or the pile of pulped meat that had once been the other human. Jaune looked down sadly at the charred body, sighing as he reached down and retrieved Zaivic's holo-tags.

Then he was distracted by Karle's jacket batting the side of his head, "What was that for?"

"The side of your face was burning, man! Er… sir."

Jaune blinked, touching his cheek as feeling his Aura swirl around the burns. If Karle wasn't telling the truth, they would have healed by now.

Meh, he'd had worse. Like that time on that magma planet.

"I don't know why we're doing this," Jaune's head snapped towards the sounds coming from behind them, "They took a thermal head on, they have to be toast."

"You're an idiot," the second voice said bluntly as Jaune forced Karle to the ground, grabbing his X-73 heavy blaster and Mors and lowering himself against a rock.

"What? Why?" the first voice said, a young man around… eighteen? Seventeen? cresting the rise.

"Because," a third, a female whose voice was weary, "Thermals aren't like fragmentation missiles. They're made to melt through ship armor, they have little it the way of blast radius."

"Which is why the commander was pissed at you," the first said, walking to Jaune and poking him in the ribs with the toe of his boot before crouching down, "Look at this sword! How much you think the Sith will pay for this ba-"

Jaune let go of Mors, letting the man stagger back as he stood up, firing a bolt through his throat, two more into the back of the woman's head and grabbed Mors as he stepped behind the last one, who was too busy staring at Zaivic's body to notice the vibrating sword until it was to late.

Jaune holstered his blaster, cleaning off Mors and sheathing it and reached down grabbing his rifle, "Karle!"

"Yes, sir?" Karle squeaked.

"Wake up Ravi, have her make sure Morsil and Horner will be fine and then fall back."

"What about you?"

Jaune looked down the cliff eying the base. No point in trying to do some cool jump, he had never been as good as those as… well, any of his friends. Instead he merely grabbed the cable Horner had been unraveling, "I'm going to clear out that camp."

Jaune stepped off the cliff, feeling his arm groan in protest at the tension before he slid down into the camp.

Upon landing, a steady stream of blaster fire hit Jaune full on the chest. His entire chest cavity would have been fried if he didn't have his Aura.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Jaune pointed his rifle at the woman manning an assault cannon, pulling the trigger just enough to send out a burst of bolts into her.

Jaune felt his Aura heal his chest as several more Seps came rushing out of the big house.

Well, hopefully there weren't many more of those cannons, he wasn't sure how many more of those he could take before his Aura went down.

- X Ren X-

Ren opened another crate, raising an eyebrow as he examined the contents, "Master Yuon?"

"Yes, Ren?" Yuon was examining a square crystal closely.

Ren carefully took out one of the foot long rectangle containers packed into the crate, running a hand along the Aurebesh writing on it, "What are these?"

"Hm?" Yuon turned, taking the container and popping off the top, "Oh! Those are the lightsabers of the heroes of our order."

Taking out the cylinder within, Yuon handed it to Ren. Pressing the button on the hilt, Ren watched the yellow blade spring from it, "Whose was this?"

"Master Belth Allusis. He and his men stood against the Sith on Bothawui. Their last stand is considered the first major victory we had in the war."

"But if they died," Ren said, "How was it a victory?"

"Because," Yuon said, a joyous glimmer in her eyes, "They made the Empire pay dearly for it. Ultimately, the Empire were incapable of holding Bothawui and had to pull back. Further, their sacrifice rallied the Republic, and the Sith were left on the defensive for the next four years."

"If they hadn't, the Republic would have lost the war," Ren said, letting the saber snap shut and handing it back.

What would it have been like, if they had awoken to discover themselves in a galaxy ruled by the Empire? The Galaxy was already dangerous as it was.

"Very likely so, yes," Yuon slid the saber back into its holder, before putting it aside and beginning to shift through the crate, "This isn't my area of expertise, but there is one I want to look at, if only for its historical significance. Here it is!"

The container Yuon lifted from the crate was immediately noticeable as different. Unlike the other containers, which were, except for their length, square, this was wider and flatter.

"Whose is this?" Ren asked, walking closer.

"This is the lightsaber of the first Mandalorian Jedi, Tarre Viz-" Yuon stopped as she opened it, a worried frown appearing, "Oh my…"

"What is it, Master Yuon?"

"It's gone," Yuon turned the container around so Ren could see the empty inside, "Someone stole Tarre's lightsaber!"

"And whoever did it was wanted to make sure the theft wasn't discovered, otherwise they wouldn't have left the container," Ren observed.

"I'll need to inform the Council of this," Yuon said, pulling out her holocomunicator, "even among lightsabers, Tarre's was one of a kind."

It took a few tries for the call to go through, showing a man with balding hair and a goatee, "Hello, Yuon."

"Syo," Yuon said, "I have terrible news."

"We know," Syo said, "We're already getting ready to meet and prepare a plan."

"You know Tarre Vizla's lightsaber was stolen?"

"What?" Syo's head jerked back, "The Darksaber has been stolen? You're certain?"

Darksaber?

"I have the holder right here," Yuon picked it up from the table, "It's empty."

"Then we'll need to discuss that at some point, but we have bigger problems at the moment. The Flesh Raiders have attacked the Gnarls in force."

"They encroach all the time," Yuon said, "We always beat them back."

"This is different," Syo said, "They're using tactics, bastardized versions of Shii-Cho, Niman and Juyo. They're fighting on the level of Padawans, their leaders Knights."

"Master Yuon," Ren said, "I can go help."

"Who is that, Yuon?"

"Syo, this is Lie Ren. He's been assisting me with unpacking the relics. Lie, this is Master Syo Bakarn of the Jedi Council."

"Hello, Master Bakarn," Ren let the use of his first name slide given the situation, "I'm willing to help, if you wish. My friends too."

"If you wish to help, I won't stop you," Syo said, "However, I should warn you it will be dangerous."

"We're used to danger, Master Bakarn," Ren said, pulling out his communicator.

"Thank you, then," Syo said with a bow just before the call ended.

"Ren," Yuon said, "When you're out there, there are four holoterminals holding recordings of founding members of the Jedi. If you could, try to retrieve them. If we defeat the Flesh Raiders, we'll return them, but we can't risk them gaining that knowledge."

"Yes, Master Yuon," Ren hit the button to call the Dragon, holding his breath.

"What is it, Ren?" Weiss said as she appeared.

"There's an attack going on, something called Flesh Raiders. I was hoping you and Yang could help…"

"Of course," Weiss nodded, "Where?"

"Somewhere called the Gnarls."

"We'll meet you there," Weiss nodded, turning away, "Yang! Gear up, there's an attack going on and we're helping!"

"I'll see you there," Ren said hanging up, turning to Yuon, "How do I get to the Gnarls from here?"

"There's a set of speeders in the training grounds we keep for emergencies," Yuon said, "Thank you again, Ren."

"I'll see you when I get back."

"I should be ready for whatever decision the Council makes," Yuon said, walking to a cabinet and pulling it open. Inside was a lightsaber with two emitters.

Ren nodded again, turning, leaving Yuon's chambers and heading towards the entrance to the temple.