disclaimer: i do not own star wars or any of its associated characters; they all belong to their respective owners. i only own any characters or plotlines that you do not recognize. I also do not own any of the dialogue i may quote from the franchise.
The Reunion
The planet Skarif used to be beautiful, blue skies and palm trees edging the horizon. The beaches were filled with soft sands and the waters were clear. But now everything is ash, some unknown horror took place here.
After leaving the Delusion on Sorgan with Vega, the two Mandalorians and Nova go in search of this wounded planet. Something within Nova tells her to go here, so she does. Bo-Katan has refused to stay on Sorgan so now she trails behind Din and Nova as they walk the ashy beaches.
"Why are we here?" Bo-Katan's agitated voice cuts through the silence.
"You didn't have to come," Nova murmurs in an effort to keep the solace of silence. There is a tremor, a pull on a thread. Nova switches her direction and walks down the slope of the beach.
"This place is dead, my scanners aren't picking up anything." Din drops a hand from where it has been adjusting the controls on his helmet. Nova can feel anger radiating from him...no, not anger. Fear. The two are remarkably similar.
"I sensed something," Nova says, keeping her tone steady.
Bo-Katan shakes her head. Din sighs.
"How were you taken?" Nova asks Bo-Katan in reference to the carbon freezing all three of them have endured. Bo-Katan turns toward her.
"I don't know, I don't remember." Bo-Katan says. Nova senses the lie as she speaks, but she does not press the issue. "How were you two taken?"
"Ambush while I slept," Din says. "Nova was taken while being foolish."
Nova stops and turns to Din. "Is there something you want to say to me?"
"No," Din shakes his head. "I don't think there is."
"Could you excuse us for a moment?" Nova says to Bo-Katan, who sighs and walks farther down the beach to give Din and Nova privacy. "Do you want to argue about whatever this is now, or later?"
"You left."
Nova takes a step back. "What?"
Din sighs, his posture slumps and Nova can feel the exhaustion rolling off of him in waves. "The first time, when you were taken, I thought once I came out of the carbon freeze I would be fine. Then you left again, and I'm glad you were able to come to terms with what you can do, but when you left i felt,"
"Abandoned." Nova whispers. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"No, it's not. I did what I had to but I hated leaving you behind." Nova places a hand on his arm, she traces the beskar on his vambrace. "From now on we stay together, agreed?"
Din stands up straighter. "Agreed."
"What are we going to do about Bo-Katan?" Nova asks. Din snorts.
"Keep her close so we can watch her."
Nova drops her hand to her side and shakes her head. "She's something else."
"Dangerous."
"Cares about Mandalorians though."
"Are you two done?" Bo-Katan calls from her place by the dried up ocean. The beaches ashy borders extend lower than they should have, the emptiness the waters left behind apparent.
Nova rolls her eyes and begins walking towards Bo-Katan. Din follows her, his boots sinking into the sand with every step. A tug, a thread starts to pull on Nova harder than before. She stops and Din nearly runs into her.
"What is it?" he asks.
"It's here," Nova says. She sits on the beach and folds her legs under her body. She closes her eyes and rests her hands, palms down on the sand. She closes her eyes and locates the thread. She pulls. Nova feels the sand shifting beneath her hands as a kyber crystal is lifted through the ground. The crystal flies free and Nova catches it in her hands. A flash, a woman kneeling on the very beach with a man. They are dressed in imperial garb but they do not strike Nova as imperials. Tears streak their blood splattered faces as they hold each other close, then a flash of light. And then nothing.
Nova gasps and opens her eyes. She holds the kyber crystal in the palm of her hand and stares at it. It seems to vibrate, its threads pulsing and dancing.
"Is that a kyber crystal?" Bo-Katan says. She stands with Din behind Nova. Nova nods as she stands.
"Yes," Nova smiles. She holds up the crystal with her thumb and pointer finger, letting the light reflect through.
000
The moon Jehda has fallen to ruin since the age of the Republic. Its prized city destroyed in a mining accident, causing the whole moon to fall. It used to be a place of worship, housing Jedi temples and towering statues but now it is desolate. Empty.
"You felt called here too?" Bo-Katan says.
"Yes," Nova holds the kyber crystal in her palm. "It's a similar pull to the one that called me to this crystal, but it's an opposite feeling. Like one feeling was day and this one is night. But it calls to me all the same."
Bo-Katan frowns, her helmet rests on her knee. When she had removed her helmet earlier Nova had held her breath, awaiting the warriors comments of how Din still didn't remove his helmet even though she knew what he looked like. But Bo-Katan had said nothing, and Nova breathed easier.
"I knew a few Jedi back when there was a Jedi council." Bo-Katan says. "I never trusted the organization as a whole, but a few individual Jedi I trusted with my life."
"You will have to tell me about them one of these days." Nova says. Bo-Katan nods.
Din pilots the cargo ship through the moon's atmosphere and lands the ship on a cliff overlooking the ruins of Jehda City. They disembark and stand in front of the ship, gazing out at the broken moon.
"I assume you want to go down there." Bo-Katan says.
"Yes, whatever is calling me is down there." Nova walks to the edge of the cliff. There is a forest of jagged rocks at the bottom.
"Does it have a 'force signature' as well?" Din asks.
Nova smiles. "Yes it does. Every living thing does. Crystals do too as they hold energy they come in contact with."
"What exactly is a Force signature?"
"It's hard to explain, for me the Force is a bunch of threads connecting everything. Someone's signature is just their collection of threads." Nova says. "There's more to it, but I can explain the specifics to you later."
Bo-Katan snorts.
"What?" Din says.
"Nevermind." Bo-Katan grabs Nova around the waist and takes off. Nova screams as the Mandalorian arcs through the air, her jetpack pushing her through the sky. Bo-Katan lands at the edge of a crumpled mountain and releases her hold on Nova. Nova stumbles backwards trying to regain her balance. In the distance Nova sees Din flying towards her and Bo-Katan. His jetpack only sputters twice, an unfortunate consequence of being damaged by Bo-Katan then repaired.
Din lands and looks around. "Where to now?"
"Um," Nova lets herself feel the pull of the threads. The one that calls her pulls her towards the ruins of the city, but other threads pull and push as well. "We aren't alone."
"What?" Bo-Katan says.
"There...is a presence. It's dark."
"We should leave."
"We can get what I need quick enough without the people on this planet knowing we are here."
"There's more than one other person here?" Din asks. Nova nods.
"There is a group that way and another over there," she points, "they are far though. And a lone individual over there somewhere. It's the lone individual I feel the darkness with."
"We should go." Bo-Katan repeats.
"You both are welcome to wait at the ship, I can go alone." Nova says.
"No, we are coming with you." Din says. Bo-Katan sighs.
"Fine. but if I die for a rock I will be pissed."
Nova leads the way through the crevices and small canyons left in the wake of whatever destruction took place. The official reports say it was a mining accident, but the more Nova sees of the destruction the more she starts to believe something else happened here.
They walk through the crater that used to be Jehda city. Nothing is left, not the whisper of a building. All that is left is a deep crater filled with rubble. A sorrow surrounds this place, Nova feels the ageless screams of terror that must have been let loose when the destruction hit. She pushes down the pain, the lost cities and her own, and focuses on the thread that pulls her closer.
"Didn't this place used to refine kyber crystals?" Bo-Katan says. Nova shrugs.
"No clue. But it would make sense if it did, maybe that's why I was drawn here."
Up ahead a large boulder rests against the side of the crater wall. Nova approaches and crouches next to the boulder, there is a small crack between the wall and the rock, as if it is guarding an entrance. Nova turns to look at Din, she points at the crack. Din touches the side of his helmet.
"There is a cave behind this boulder." Din says. He drops his arm to his side and steps back.
"Maybe there is something we can use to push the boulder out of the way." Bo-Katan looks around, surveying her surroundings.
"No need." Nova says. She gestures for Din and Bo-Katan to back up. She then extends a hand, palm facing up, towards the boulder. She feels the threads of the rock, pulling them together to better have a grip. Nova pulls up on the threads and the boulder begins to rise. Small rocks dislodge from where they had been sitting in the crevices made between the boulder and the crater wall. Nova guides the boulder overhead and sets it down behind them. She releases her hold on the rocks threads.
Din watches her, the look on her face must've told him what she was thinking. "We can stay here, you go in."
"Are you sure?" Nova says. Din nods.
"I wouldn't lie, not to you."
Nova dips her head in acknowledgement. She walks to the entrance and pauses. "No fighting while I'm gone, okay?"
Bo-Katan shakes her head. "He already almost beat me once, I have no intention of trying again. At least for now."
Nova sighs and walks into the cave. The darkness swallows her immediately. The memory of the city's pain is stronger down here. Nova's veins start to burn, she tries to push out the pain but it won't budge. She looks behind at the ever shrinking entrance to the cave, the small pinpoint of light getting smaller and smaller. Nova shivers and wraps her arms around her middle, she keeps going, getting deeper and deeper into the cave. After a while the light is gone completely, leaving Nova to stumble forwards in the dark.
Nova finds the thread that calls her and uses it as her guide. The burning has settled to a constant ache now, but it is a constant Nova ignores. She stumbles over a loose stone and almost falls, but she catches herself on the cave wall. She bites back a swear when a stone slices her hand.
Up ahead is a faint glow. Nova follows it into a room filled with kyber crystals, each glowing with a dim light. She grins and almost laughs but the burning increases. She swallows hard and stumbles forward, searching for the crystal that has called her.
A small crystal, stuck to the ceiling, seems to glow brighter than the others. Nova holds out her hand and pulls on the kyber crystal with the Force. The crystal dislodges and Nova barely catches it before doubling over in pain. She sits on the ground cradling the crystal in her hands. It feels cold, like empty space, and dark like space too. Nova pulls the crystal she got from Skarif from her pocket. She holds one crystal in one hand and one in the other. The one she found on Skarif feels warm, like the stars. It feels like the heat of hyperspace. The two crystals are opposites, but they have a harmony.
Nova lays on her back and closes her eyes, drinking in the presence of the crystals in the cave.
00
Din and Bo-Katan sit with their backs leaning against the large boulder. The sun has gotten lower in the sky, at least an hour has passed since Nova went into the cave. A rock sits a few feet in front of the two Mandalorians; Bo-Katan throws pebbles at it. She hits it each time.
"What are you going to do with the Darksaber?" Bo-Katan breaks the silence. Her voice is tight and her eyes are narrowed in thought.
"I don't know," Din says. "If I'm being honest, I still don't know what it means."
"And yet you fought to keep it."
Din takes a breath and sighs. "I made a judgement call."
Bo-Katan frowns. She shakes her head and throws another pebble, it bounces off of the rock.
"Will Nova train to be a Mandalorian?"
"I've already been training her in the code and she is almost fluent in Mando'a." Din says. "Why do you ask?"
"She carries herself like a warrior." Bo-Katan says. Din smiles under his helmet.
Bo-Katan begins to speak but she stops. Din tilts his head.
"I hear something," she says.
A deep resonating hum fills the air. Din and Bo-Katan get to their feet and stand back to back while drawing their blasters.
A figure dressed in black stands on top of the boulder, her features are hidden by a helmet fixed over her face and montrals; and in her hands are two red lightsabers.
The sound of more lightsabers being ignited fills the air as two more Togrutas step out from behind the boulder.
Bo-Katan fires her blasters but the lead figure deflects the bolts.
"Sith," Bo-Katan hisses.
"What is a Sith?" Din asks. He holsters his blaster and draws the beskar staff.
"Evil Jedi." Bo-Katan says.
The three Sith converge, lightsabers held in reverse grips. They swing in unison. Din lifts the beskar staff and knocks away a few of the attacks. The few strikes he doesn't block with the staff are deflected by his armor. Behind him, Bo-Katan lands a strike with her vibroblade, slicing into one of the Siths shoulders.
The three Sith back away and begin to circle the Mandalorians. One spins her lightsaber.
The deep resonance of another lightsaber igniting causes the Sith to stop pacing. They whirl to see a woman standing holding a lightsaber with a golden blade. She has sun tanned skin and her brown hair is pulled back into three buns. Behind her stands a dark skinned man wearing a blue vest and holding a lightsaber hilt, though the blade has not been ignited.
Two of the Sith move to attack the newcomers. The third turns back to the Mandalorians.
"I'm guessing you've fought a Sith before," Din says to Bo-Katan.
"I've come in contact with one," Bo-Katan says. "You take right, I'll go left."
Din nods and moves right. Bo-Katan moves left and the two Mandalorians circle the Sith ending up on either side of her. Bo-Katan raises her arm and fires her grappling line and it wraps around the Siths body pinning her arms to her sides. Din follows suit and fires his grappling line as well.
The Sith twirls her lightsabers and slices through the wires. Bo-Katan draws her blasters, runs to the side, and begins shooting at the Sith. Using the distraction to his advantage, Din slips behind the Sith and stabs her with the beskar staff. The Sith falls to the ground and her lightsaber hilts roll away.
Near the boulder one of the Sith has already fallen and the last has lost one of her lightsabers. The woman with the golden lightsaber pushes the Sith off balance with the Force, she swings and decapitates the Sith. The woman deactivates her lightsaber and straightens up.
"I'm Rey," the woman says. "This is Finn." the man with her nods.
"I'm Bo-Katan," Bo-Katan holsters her blasters. "Are you Jedi?"
Rey nods. Din walks forwards then stops. Behind Rey stands a young boy with cropped hair and a long thin braid behind his left ear. Standing beside the young boy is a green creature with large ears.
"Grogu?" Din whispers.
Grogu raises his ears. "Patu?"
Din kneels on one knee and rests his arm on his one raised leg. He extends his other hand. Grogu ambles forward and grabs Dins hand with his two smaller ones.
"You know each other," Rey says.
Din takes a page out of Nova's book and responds, "something like that."
Grogu tilts his head and tightens his grip. He starts to babble but stops as his ears lower. He turns towards the Sith Rey and Finn had knocked out. The Sith has begun to pick herself up, her hands gripping her lightsabers.
"You didn't kill her?" Din stands, taking Grogu with him and holding the Child against his chest.
"I don't kill unless it cannot be avoided." Rey says. She ignites her lightsaber again, and the Sith charges forward.
00
The hum of the cave quiets once Nova leaves it behind. The tunnel doesn't seem to be as dark as before, though she is still blinded by the darkness Nova is able to navigate it easier. The burning under her skin dissipates as she leaves the cave as well, going from a raging fire in her veins to a smouldering ash as the pain burns out.
The pinpoint of light at the end of the tunnel gets larger and larger as Nova gets closer and closer. Threads of danger quiver and shake all around Nova, she walks close to the wall of the cave and stops at the opening. Before her a fight is taking place. Din, Bo-Katan, and a Jedi with a golden lightsaber blade fight a shrouded figure with two red lightsabers. There is something unnatural about the fighter with the red lightsabers. A strange energy.
But there is another presence, someone familiar. Crouching by the mouth of the cave is Grogu, his ears low as he watches the fight. He must sense Nova for he turns to her and his ears lift.
Nova grins. "Hey kid,"
Grogu babbles something while pointing at the fight.
"Yeah, I'm gonna join the fight, don't worry. Someone's gotta bail Din out of this one."
The kid seems to snort. He lifts one of his hands and pulls on the Force. One of the fallen lightsabers from the fallen figures lifts and flies through the air, then comes to rest in front of Nova.
"Not sure I know how to use one of these," Nova says. "But it can't be too different from stick fighting, right? I just can only hold it in one spot."
Grogu shrugs.
"Okay, okay I'm going." Nova stands and ignites the red blade. If anything, she can distract the enemy long enough for the others to finish it off. She runs into the fray, blocking a blow that would have decapitated Bo-Katan.
"You need to stop saving my life." the warrior snaps.
"Why, tired of feeling like you owe me?" Nova quips back. She spins and strikes at the enemy again. "What are we fighting?"
"A Sith," the Jedi with the golden blade says. Nova spins the lightsaber and almost grabs the other end, as if it were the beskar staff, but thinks better of it. She slides on the ground, ducking under one of the Sith's sabers, and aims a strike at the Siths shoulder. But she aims with the wrong end of the saber and all she succeeds in doing is looking like she is having a spasm.
"Dank farrik," Nova mutters. Maybe when she crafts her own lightsaber it will be double-bladed.
The Sith kicks the Jedi in the gut, sending the woman sprawling on the ground. Din twirls the beskar staff around his body, transferring it from one hand to the other, and swings it at the Siths back. He hits her on the back and the Sith lurches forward. Nova twists the saber in her hands over her head and brings it down in an arc, slicing the Sith's head from her shoulders. Nova deactivates the saber and adjusts the shoulders on her jacket.
"Im Rey," the Jedi with the golden lightsaber holds out her hand. Nova takes it and pulls the woman to her feet.
"Nova,"
"Are you a Jedi?"
Nova shakes her head.
"We have a problem." Bo-Katan's voice cuts through their conversation. Nova approaches the body of one of the other Sith's Bo-Katan is currently crouching over. The Mandalorian has removed the Siths helmet.
The Sith is Ahsoka.
"Ahsoka Tano?" Din says. Grogu goes to Din and he picks up the Child.
"I knew her, she wouldn't just turn to the Sith." Bo-Katan says. A thread pulls on Nova and she goes to one of the decapitated heads. She releases the latches on the side of the helmet and pulls it off.
"This one is Ahsoka too," Nova says.
"So is this one." Din stands over the other decapitated head, the Sith helmet in his hands.
"Are they clones?" Bo-Katan says.
"You know her?" Rey asks. Din, Bo-Katan, and Nova all nod. "I wonder," the Jedi clips her lightsaber hilt to her belt and goes to sit on a rock.
"What is it?" Nova approaches her. The Jedi's companions, a dark skinned man and a young boy, go to Rey as well.
"Well, as of recent, there has been some unrest in the galaxy." Rey begins. "We thought with Palpatine defeated that thing could settle, but things have only gotten worse."
"Yeah, this isn't the first set of Sith clones we have encountered," the dark skinned man says. "I'm Finn by the way."
Nova dips her head in acknowledgement.
"And with the threats coming from Mandalore, the One Republic is scrambling and spread too thin. I've been training new Jedi but I'm the only one left that's fully trained so it's a slow process." Rey says. She rubs her temples and Finn places a hand on her shoulder. Rey's voice cracks when she says she is the only Jedi fully trained, leaving Nova to wonder who she has lost.
"What threats are coming from Mandalore?" Bo-Katan says.
"Just war proclamations," Finn says. "To be honest the One Republic thought that planet was uninhabitable, but apparently someone has been inhabiting it. Our scanners have been picking up a lot of activity on Mandalore as well. Every scout we have sent to check it out hasn't returned."
Nova can feel the anger swirling around Bo-Katan. Nova sits on the ground along with everyone else. Grogu leans against Dins leg.
"Do you know who is on Mandalore?" Din says. "Who is issuing these threats?"
"Someone by the name of Gideon." Finn says.
"How did you know that?" Rey asks.
"Oh, Poe told me." Finn says.
"Of course he did, he doesn't know how to keep secrets.'' Rey laughs.
"Gideon?" Din says. Nova sighs.
"You know him?" Rey asks. Nova nods.
"He has threatened Mandalorians before," Bo-Katan says. She begins to tell the young Jedi about the Moff and his many crimes. Din and Nova interject with their own brushes with the Moff. As they speak the sun sets fully, casting the crater in darkness. After a while Din stands and offers to return to the cargo ship for supplies. The young boy, who Rey introduced as Ry-Lee, offers to go with him. Once Din and Ry-Lee leave, Grogu comes over to Nova.
"What brings you to Jehda City?" Nova asks Rey.
"The kyber crystals. Ry-Lee and Finn are ready to get theirs. Grogu wanted to tag along."
"That sounds like Grogu, he likes adventures." Nova looks down at the Child who is dozing.
"Speaking of Grogu," Rey says. "He has a strong bond with your Mandalorian friend."
Nova gives a small smile. "Yes, he does."
"Ever since the Child saw him, I have felt Grogu's decision." Rey says. "He wishes to go with the Mandalorian."
Nova feels a weight lift from her shoulders. "My friend will be pleased."
They fall into silence as the night stretches on. The moon is high in the sky when Bo-Katan stands up. "Something is wrong." she says.
"Do you feel that?" Nova says in reference to the Force shaking all around them.
"Yes, I feel it." Rey stands as well and Nova follows suit. Finn stands as well and Grogu startles awake with a cry.
Rey ignites her lightsaber for light and holds it up. Frantic footsteps can be heard in the distance as Ry-Lee approaches.
"He took him," the boy gasps when he reaches them.
"Who took who?" Nova says, a sinking sensation pooling in her stomach as her legs start to numb.
"The Mandalorian. He wasn't expecting it." Ry-Lee says. "The Sith came out of nowhere and threw the Mandalorian into a rock and knocked him out. I tried to fight but I, I wasn't ready for that."
"The Sith, was it another clone?" Nova asks.
"I don't think so, it was a man. He had black hair slicked back, bright blue eyes, and a scar across the back of his hand. I only know that because it's the hand that held his lightsaber."
"Where did this man take D-the Mandalorian?"
"To his ship, then he took off."
Nova turns away and tries to slow her breathing. Din is gone, somewhere in the galaxy. He could be anywhere. And with a man Nova has never even heard of.
What was she supposed to do now?