CHAPTER XXVIII: To Onderon

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Atton shot straight up when he heard a yell from the surrounding jungle; at first, he almost dismissed it as a maalraas or boma, but then he thought about it again as he tried to fall asleep. It had been hard, but also joyous, in a manner. Something told him that there was someone coming, and when he expanded his senses to figure out who, he felt a bright beacon of light, far brighter than any sun. Atton scrabbled out of bed, belting his blasters and lightsabers onto his armor before trooping out into the cool night.

He wasn't alone; Kahned, Mira, Lonna Vash, Visas, and the handmaiden were standing out on the brink of the forest, watching and waiting. Atton sidled up to the Jedi Master and asked, "Who's coming?"

"I don't know," she whispered in reply, awe evident in her voice, "but there has been no one as strong in the light that I have felt since Revan herself. We shall have to see."

"Whoever it is, he's only a few meters away," Mira muttered, knowing on instinct who it could possibly be, but not saying outwardly. Atton looked over at her in interest, and Mira shrugged, saying, "Hunter's intuition. Now shut up; we're about to have company."

The sun started rising as a few branches crackled in approach. Atton could make out flashes of blue and silver as he tried to make out who it was, but he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. Visas struggled also to keep her sight focused on this newcomer; it was as bright as a star, or sun, and strong as the Force itself. Kahned simply stood, nearly unaware of his compatriots' awe.

The sun burst over the horizon, and, in a blaze of golden-silver light, Kiray appeared. The wind that had come up blew back her new robes, snapping them in the breeze. A smile was etched deeply into her face, and her eyes echoed the sun's glow, giving their amber light a blinding golden sheen. Her brown hair was unmoved, save her bangs, as she walked forward boldly, into the midst of her friends.

Behind them, the other Mandalorians had started waking up, and seeing Kiray garbed and lit like a goddess of the sun made them stand in awe and almost threw themselves down to her feet in worship. Mandalore appeared from his HQ, and if he hadn't been wearing his helm, Kiray would have sworn that his jaw would've been hanging open.

"Kir..." Atton muttered, walking towards her, "you look so...so..."

"Divine?" Kahned chuckled, earning himself a glare from Atton. Kiray smiled and carefully caressed Atton's face, looking into his deep brown eyes. Atton couldn't keep her gaze in focus, it was so bright, so beautiful that he couldn't even describe it; divine could only barely cover such beauty.

Kiray stepped away from him as Mandalore strolled up. He looked her up and down, and nodded. "Impressive. Very impressive. Normally it takes a few weeks for a successful gai bal manda, but you finished within a night. That is amazing."

"It certainly is, isn't it?" Kiray replied, looking down at her tanned skin and remembering the terrifying echo; how long would it take for it to return? She shook the thought away as she said, "Well, I guess we're ready to head for Onderon, right? You did say once I came back we'd be underway."

"Right, right," Mandalore said. "Well, it's going to take awhile to power up the shuttle. Your effects are in my quarters; I locked them up kinda tight, so don't be surprised if you can't unlock them."

"No problem!" Atton broke in with a grin, "I can open anything with a wave of my hand." He dramatically waved his hand, and, quite suddenly, a locker behind him opened up. Atton spun around in surprise and muttered, "Damn, I'm good."

"Sure you are," Kiray replied, tossing a wink over to the cloaked Goto. "C'mon, stop playing around, hotshot, we gotta find my lightsaber."

"Okay," he shrugged, and he found himself being dragged towards the HQ without seeing Goto. Everyone laughed as Atton yelled and tried to free himself from Goto's grasp. The droid revealed himself and growled quite coldly, "If you did not struggle so, I would let you go without repercussions."

Atton chuckled hollowly before tugging his shoulder from the claw hold, and he trooped into Mandalore's HQ looking humiliated. Everyone else could not suppress laughter, and Mira was laughing so hard that she was rolling on the dew covered grass.

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Mandalore looked over the shuttle, turning to Zuka. "I want her ready within the hour to fly to Iziz."

"Easy enough Mandalore," Zuka confirmed, saluting before climbing into the shuttle to do the preflight checks. Mandalore sighed and turned to see a black-robed figure, the same that had commed him a day before the arrival of the Ebon Hawk. He smiled to himself as he remembered a few good times on that old boat, but brought himself back to the present as the robed figure spoke ominously low.

"I trust everything is going to plan?"

"Yeah, but don't think that I'm happy about tricking one of my own like this. She's officially part of Clan Ordo now, and my responsibility." Mandalore tried to see past the raised cowl, but only making out a pair of glowing red eyes, almost reminiscent of Malak's.

"The deception is necessary. But you should be wary of your loyalties and trusts; a trusted second can easily stab you in the back as you can recruit them."

"Oh, yeah?" Mandalore challenged gruffly, "See Kex over there? He was muscle on Nar Shaddaa before I brought him here. Zuka was a drone ship maintenance officer before I found him. I trust them with my life, as much as they trust me. I rescued them from living hells, gave them purpose again!"

The cloaked figure chuckled and replied, "I am not talking of the present, although seeing you carrying out Revan's orders is a warm reminder to me that you were once bound to her."

"How did you know?!" Mandalore hissed. Virtually no one knew that he'd once been one of Revan's companions during the end of the Jedi Civil War, not even that thrice-blasted Republic. The figure simply chuckled again.

"Show her the same loyalty as you did to Revan, and we will see just how far you can go."

Before he could draw any sort of weapons to kill the mysterious person, he vanished, leaving Mandalore only with his rage for comfort.

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The shuttle trip to Iziz was uneventful, causing Kiray to think on her travail in the jungle. So far, she hadn't sensed the return of her wound, but she knew that it was still there, if not a little bit weaker. She knew that it could hurt her or her companions at any given moment, as the happenings on Goto's yacht had revealed, which meant she had to constantly be on guard against it.

Maybe I should only accept the fact that it is there, but it has absolutely no power over me. Maybe it will think twice before assaulting me again...no. Don't think in maybes and what ifs. That leads to doubt, and doubt leads to fear. You know what happens if you get afraid.

Kiray just stopped thinking right then and there, rather gazing out at the passing city below. Iziz was made out of a beautiful sandstone with red accents, and the walls surrounding it were more than five meters tall.

"I have a contact here that could give a help in finding your Jedi Master," Mandalore said after they had docked, "A doctor, by the name of Dhagon Ghent. He lives on the other side of the Market Square, and he's been a good help to me and my men for quite some time now.

"It might be best if you do the talking," he continued to Kiray, who was only half-listening, "since the Onderonians aren't especially friendly to us Mandalorians, and you're not that obvious as one of us."

"It's a true fact," Mira said, who'd hitched a ride because she'd never been to Iziz before. Kiray nodded and looked around blankly. She could feel the wound returning, slowly, yes, but surely nonetheless. Mira put a hand on Kiray's shoulder and shook her a little. "Hey, Kir, you awake in there?"

"Yeah, I'm – I'm fine," Kiray said. She felt it in full strength now, and it was laughing, long and low. Mira could barely pick up on Kiray's odd behavior, but she knew there was something wrong.

"Kir, whatever it is, ignore it. We've got things to do, people to see...say, how many credits do we have?" Mira delved her hands into Kiray's pockets, who came to quickly and snatched at it, but missed as Mira looked at the credit account.

"Force-loved bantha poodoo!" Mira cried in amazement. Kiray grabbed the datapad and stuffed it back into a pocket as Mira whispered, "Ten thousand credits??!! We've picked up that much?! This almost calls for a shopping spree, I could use a new pair of blasters..."

"Mira, the point we are here is not to go shopping, all right? We're supposed to go find a Jedi master and send him to Dantooine. If, and only if, we have enough time, then we can go shopping. Deal?" Kiray stuck her hand out to the bounty huntress, who took it with a nod.

"Right, gotta prioritize. Master, shopping, swoop racing; master, shopping, swoop racing." Mira chanted that for a bit as the three of them emerged in the main hangar area. A port official stopped them however, giving Kiray a starport visa and filling them in on current events and such. Mira dragged Kiray over to an Aqualish merchant, and the Mandalorian-in-hiding reluctantly bought Mira a new pair of blasters. They started walking towards the exit, and were stopped by a guard.

"Hold it right there, spacer! I need to ask you a few questions before you go into the city," the guard started, seeming to try not to snap his blaster rifle in their direction, "What is your business in Iziz: business or pleasure?"

Kiray rolled her eyes and quietly nudged at the guard's mind through the Force. "You don't need to ask me any questions," she said, slightly waving her hand and waiting for the trick to take effect. The guard's eyes glazed over as the trick worked.

""I don't need to ask you any questions," he echoed, stepping aside, "Enjoy your stay in Iziz, and don't lose your starport visa!" Kiray gave him a nod and a wink at Mira and Mandalore before going through the narrow passageway that led to the Market Square.