Chapter 49 – Aftermath

D178/0 ABY

Hera and Kanan opened their eyes while in the med-bay. In front they saw Bor, meditating near Fenrir's bed, while Fenrir himself was on the bed. Mace Windu sat next to Talia's bed, her hand still briefly clasped by his. As the two lifted their heads, Windu looked up at them.

"Welcome back.", Windu said, "I hope it went according to plan."

"We'll find out master. How long were we out?", Kanan asked.

"A few hours, and it's just Mace now.", Windu answered.

Kanan and Hera looked surprised at this, "It felt like a few minutes.", Hera commented.

"Your perception of time could be different in there.", Windu spoke.

"Any change in her condition?", Hera asked.

"No.", came the reply. Hera and Kanan both sensed his worry in that answer.

"I hope you don't mind if I ask you a question.", Hera said.

"Not at all.", Windu said.

"Is there something going on between the two of you?", Hera asked. Kanan raised an eyebrow at Hera, wondering why she would ask something like this.

Windu merely looked at Talia's face and said, "We're married."

Kanan was about to say something but his commlink started to beep. "It's Sabine."

Answering the commlink, Kanan asked "Spectre 5, how is it going?"

"Uh, it's been a crazy ride Spectre 1. Tell you all about it when we get back. Mandalore is free again, Thor's reinforcements arrived just in the nick of time.", Sabine answered.

"Sabine, that's great news.", Hera spoke.

"It is, but the cost was too high. We learnt about what happened on Naboo, and uh… this isn't easy but something happened to Tarre.", Sabine said hesitating.

"We know Sabine… we know.", Hera spoke, knowing fully well the horror Sabine was talking about. As she spoke, Bor opened his eyes and got up. Following him Fenrir opened his eyes and looked at everyone with a blank face.

(A/N: Spoilers for those, who haven't seen 'The Mandalorian' Ep. 8)

D180/0 ABY

Two days had passed since Mandalore's liberation. During that time, the republic rescue group had returned back to Home One. The good part was that Bo Katan had allowed the Asgardian reinforcements to stay for some time, until they received different orders. The other good part was that Manda'lor's mask had been destroyed by Tarre. Better to have it destroyed than in the hands of someone as vile as Nihilus, Bo Katan had commented. The third good part was that Tarre's statue was still active and Tarre had instructed it follow every command that Bo Katan gave. Tarre also stated that the statue will guard Mandalore and its people from invaders forever. The bad part was that the darksabre was now lost, again.

In the med-bay on Home One, by now all but two patients remained – Prince Issho and his apprentice, Talia. Prince Issho was still in the bacta tank, but he had started to improve. While Talia was still on bed rest, with Mace Windu still at her side. The only times he had left the med-bay was when going to the refresher once a day and making sure he looked presentable when she woke up.

Talia's eyes finally opened and she tried making sense of her surroundings. As she was doing this, her eyes fell on Windu, who looked like he hadn't slept for a few days atleast. They both smiled at each other and Talia felt his hand holding hers.

"You look terrible.", she commented wryly.

"You look great.", Windu said.

"You both look terrible.", came a third voice at which Talia gasped. She tried to rise to see who the person was, but Windu kept a firm hand on her saying, "You still need rest."

The new person then came to stand in front of them, with an amused expression on his face.

"Prince Kuzan!", Talia gasped.

"Hello little Talia. Still getting the wind knocked out of you.", Kuzan smiled.

"What are you doing here?", she asked.

"This idiot is helping me.", Bor grumbled. Straining her neck, she saw him sitting near Prince Issho's bacta tank, his eyes closed. Kuzan sighed and said nothing, while Talia looked in shock.

"What happened to him?", she asked, her eyes going back to Windu, who put a reassuring hand on her.

"Something terrible happened to all of you. The good news is that you are all on mend.", Bor spoke opening his eyes.

"I remember. Naboo, Tarre… he", Talia started experiencing a panic attack. As Windu tried to reassure, to hold her in his arms in an effort to calm her, Kuzan walked towards her, placed a finger on her forehead and calmed her down. As her breath steadied, she spoke, "On Naboo, that… that demon, he did something."

"We know. We know, young angel.", Bor spoke now standing and looking at her. "But it is over now. Samhain is no more. I smote him."

D183/0 ABY

Onboard the Ghost, Hera and Kanan sat in the pilot and co pilot seat. Behind Hera sat Ahsoka and behind Kanan sat Fenrir. Ezra and Sabine stood behind them, with Zeb in the nose gun.

"So, tell me about this world.", Fenrir said.

"Well, for starters it is known as Vorzyd V, the gambler's world.", Sabine spoke, "It has a democratic government."

"Sounds a bit well off. Why would they want to join the Republic?", Fenrir asked after Sabine finished.

"Its because of the heavy taxation of the Empire, or so our contact says.", Sabine said.

"Who is this contact again?", Fenrir asked.

"A fulcrum agent.", Ahsoka spoke.

"There is more to this than just wanting to join the Republic, isn't there.", Fenrir said in a serious tone.

"That's what we're going to determine. Fulcrum agents haven't been heard from ever since the Battle of Yavin.", Ezra spoke.

"I get the feeling we might be walking into a trap.", Fenrir spoke.

"I wouldn't worry about it. After all we have 3 Jedi and two Angels with us.", Zeb chimed from below.

A mischievous smile played at Sabine's face. As the ship was in hyperspace, Hera turned around to talk to the team but saw the expression on Sabine's face.

"Sabine, I said no.", Hera said in a motherly voice.

"I didn't do anything. I was just thinking about it.", Sabine said raising her hands defensively.

As she said this the cockpit doors opened and Tarre stepped in, followed by Chopper who was laughing in binary. Tarre's eyes were covered by Kanan's old mask, which Kanan had insisted that Tarre should use. This was after the Ghost crew had learned from Ahsoka about Tarre's eyes. Tarre still had the bandage on his neck, only to hide the scar. His speech impairment was now mostly gone, though his neck was still a little stiff, and his voice was now permanently hoarse.

"Do you mind running a diagnostic on Chopper. I think he may have short circuited, for some reason he can't stop laughing.", Tarre spoke in an even voice. By now Zeb had climbed up and everyone was looking at Tarre. Ahsoka's eyes were wide and she stopped herself from laughing as did the rest, though Fenrir looked at his best friend and a brother in arms evenly with no change in his expression.

"Sabine!", Hera said turning to the young spectre.

"I didn't.", she said defensively, though trying to stop from laughing herself.

"She didn't.", Fenrir said as he got up, handed Sabine the pink paint cannister that he had borrowed earlier. Tarre merely stood there confused as Fenrir patted him on the back and left the cockpit.

"What?", he asked standing there. Unbeknown to him, his hair and beard were painted pink as a prank.

"Nothing.", everyone said a little quickly, while Chopper continued laughing. Tarre was a little suspicious at this, but chose to ignore it. He then sat on the seat vacated by Fenrir.

"You're handling it a lot better than I was.", Kanan spoke.

"I had excellent guidance.", Tarre said gesturing towards Kanan. Kanan smiled slightly at this.

"So, is anyone going to tell me or do I have figure it out on my own?", Tarre asked.

"Tell you what?", Ahsoka asked innocently.

"Why were all of you staring at me as if there was something horrendous on my head?", Tarre asked.

The ship then beeped and Hera quickly said, "We're coming up on Vorzyd V."