Centuries after the last great war before the Clone Wars, the Jedi enclave on Dantooine had fallen into disrepair due to centuries of neglect. The locals of the planet tended to steer clear of the holy grounds as it had become the central hive for the Kinrath insects. It took Barriss and Mace months to clear them out using force bonding to convince the creatures to vacate. In all that time, the force itself felt like a distant echo to the pair. Unsurprising to the Jedi master as he had informed his new Padawan of Meetra Surik, the only Jedi in history to turn away from the force.

She listened to the stories, of the Mandalorian wars, of Revan, Malak and Meetra. How they led the Republic to victory and their downfall, how Meetra became a wound in the force and the brief teachings of Kreia. This knowledge was known only to the Jedi Council but forbidden to the rest of the order in fears of drawing others to the dark side. She supposed that the concept of light and dark aren't as important with the ever-looming threat of the far outsiders.

Once the enclave was cleared and restored to a degree, Barriss continued her training, but with newer insights to the force based upon the historical teachings she received. Mace Windu was better than anyone to teach her the positive aspects of both the light and dark sides of the force. Force heal was already a natural ability to her, a perfect countermeasure if she were ever required to draw upon the dark side of the force. Dooku was a perfect ample of how much the dark side can weaken an individual, in the space of three years, he had gone from being the best duelist in the Order to being bested by Anakin Skywalker's aggressive techniques. Granted, Skywalker was quite the duelist himself but his recklessness cost him his arm the first time they dueled, for Dooku to be bested by him a short time afterwards showed how weak his body had become due to the dark side, it made him weak, sloppy, slow. His age alone played a small part in his performance, but that was only enhanced from the power drawn within himself which was the dark side of the force. It clings like a parasite, taking what it needs to survive with no care to the effect it has on the host.

The light side of the force draws upon the force around one's self, using the body as a catalyst for its power. Much like how the force residing on the planet of Bardotta filtered through Barriss' own body to heal Master Windu, the force plays a key role in creation as much as destruction.

In the fourth month of her training, both Barriss and Mace traversed deep into the crystal caves, having to kill the Kilxen queen to make way to the main cavern. Mace had little time before a crystal called to him, but unlike his old purple saber which portrayed his balance between the light and dark, this crystal was bright blue. Perhaps this was an indication of his draw to the light, his noble act of trying to prepare Barriss for the arrival.

Barriss herself had more trouble finding her crystal, she meditated and listened, but found nothing. As if the whole cave itself were void of voices, she sat in silence, listening. Suddenly she could hear everything, from the remnants of the Kinrath hive scurrying away to the droplets of water forming through the sediment before falling into the still lake below. She could hear everything alive within the cave, but not her crystal. Where is it?

She closed her eyes and meditated, at first she felt nothing, then cold. Just cold. Ice creeping under through the seems of the windows and doors, multiple entities of the dark side patrolling outside the dark room.

"Master!" Barriss gasped.

"Yes, Padawan?" Mace replied.

"No. No no, not you. Master Unduli! I can sense her! She's alive! We have to find her!"

Stay

Barriss knew this calling. It was the force instructing her. "What? I- I can't" She protested to the voice.

Not yet. Stay

"No!" The Padawan screamed. The caves themselves shook with fear as Mace stood silent before stepping forward.

"Padawan, no one would like to believe that Master Unduli is alive more than me, but you saw that bounty board, she wasn't on there, she has to be dead. Listen to the force, young one. Because I can't hear it" He tried to reason.

"I don't care! I failed her once, I can't fail her again by leaving her alone out there." Barriss argued as she ran for the cave opening to the fields around the enclave.

"Barriss! Barriss, wait!" Mace cried out. "There's something else! I can sense it!"

Mace followed close behind as they emerged from the cave to see two large identical ships in a dogfight above their heads. "This is the 'something else' I was talking about." He commented as one of the ships shot the other out of the sky, causing whoever was flying to make a crash landing towards the enclave.

"Mandalorians."

"Well done, Savik. That was some impressive flying!" The caped Mandalorian leader boasted as he pat his subordinate on the back.

"For the glory of Mandalore." The pilot returned.

The blue tinted Mandalorian vessel landed in one of the open fields close to the enclave, a crew of six emerged from the ship including the leader and pilot. The remaining warriors quickly began unloading crates from the cargo hold which appeared to be survival gear as they set up camp.

"The hunt can wait, men!" The leader announced. "This continent of Dantooine is vast and empty. This enclave before us is one of the only structures within six hundred clicks, there is nowhere for those traitors to hide. The hunt shall resume at dawn!" He cheered and his men cheered back.

"I want you two on patrol. Switch accordingly, we cannot allow our enemy to get the jump on us"

As soon as the teal and gold armoured leader gave his command, the two soldiers he had just put on patrol raised their weapons and aimed past him. He turned to see two robed, hooded figures approaching them with their hands up.

"Do not shoot! We are unarmed" The male announced.

"State your business here, wanderers!" The leader shouted back.

The male of the pair pulled back his hood to reveal a dark skinned man with short, thick, greying, spindly hair and matching dark stubble. "We are simple travelers, my companion and I saw the fight above and chose to investigate."

As a matching sign of respect, he leader of the Mandalorian party removed his helmet to meet his fellow man face to face. He was bald and scarred all over, his piercing hazel eyes narrowing at the second hooded figure. "And you, Madame? Do you not speak?"

The robed woman pulled back her hood to reveal Barriss Offee. "Fon Ordera?"

4 days after Order 66...

The sight of a Republic blockade orbiting his home world made Fon's blood boil with rage, it was as he feared. The allegedly democratic Republic has transformed into a dictatorship.

The communications console blinked to his surprise, he opened the channel.

"This is an open broadcast to the children of Mandalore, our world has been taken from us once again, we do not have the numbers to reclaim it this time. The Republic, after constantly denying our requests for aid, had finally given in with the help of an ally to our people, Ashoka Tano. You may have heard the stories by now, clones turning on their generals, the Jedi Order wiped out, well, those very same troopers turned on us once Mandalore was safe from Maul. We will never forget the rogue Jedi's efforts to help our people… but now is no time to mourn. I am calling for all remaining Mandalorians among the stars to migrate to Dxun. Mandalore will survive, we always survive. Bo Katan out."

This information was almost too much for Fon to process. After escaping from prison, he had only heard rumours from his contacts on Coruscant about an alien single handedly taking over his home, how the Republic initially refused to send aid. Despite the tragedy that had enveloped Mandalore, Fon was proud of Bo Katan's leadership skills and quick thinking. Dxun was once a beachhead in the Mandalorian wars for the attack on Onderon, it would serve their people well once again.

Fon emerged from Hyperspace over Dxun, the lush green jungles clearly visible from orbit. He remembered when his father had brought him here during his childhood, he remembered the old camps, the armour planted in memory of clan Ordo. His thoughts of his past were interrupted by his console flashing. Fon pressed a button to answer the transmission.

Bo Katan showed on the hologram. "State your clan, child of Mandalore."

Fon wasn't looking forward to the conversation that would ensue, but he stated his name anyway. "Ordera, ma'am."

Her eyes widened. "Fon Ordera? Pre said you died. How are you here?"

"Well of course he said that, I told him to. The Republic would have never left Mandalore alone if the people knew I lived. Now, do I have permission to land?"

Bo paused. "Sending you coordinates."

That night, Fon met with Bo Katan. Being the eldest of the camp, many eyes already drew to him in hopes of a plan. From that alone, he could see that the warriors of the group were losing faith in Bo, being betrayed by a force wielder twice will do that to someone's reputation. He had much to think about while he remained in this place.

Weeks went by as more and more Mandalorian warriors and civilians arrived to take refuge, Deathwatch acted as their protectors, once again the heroes of their people. Fon offered his council to Bo Katan when the situation called for it, many older warriors respected his influence day by day. Soon, he had his own following of loyal troopers acting as his squad to lead.

On the second month since order 66, Bo had recorded that over four thousand Mandalorians had now made Dxun their home, camps turned into small settlements as the Deathwatch continued to act as a protective force. Bo Katan had made Fon her second in command and had assigned him, along with his squad of troops to follow up rumours of Maul's escape. He couldn't be allowed to destroy another civilization.

Present day...

"That lead to us chasing those traitors to Dantooine, we believe Maul was on that ship. He has nowhere to go, so we'll camp here for the night and capture him in the morning. Although, now, we have you two here, perhaps you would offer your assistance? The aid of a force user would be greatly appreciated." Fon finished his story.

Barriss and Mace looked to one another before seizing the opportunity, Barriss stepped forward. "We will help you. IF you aid us in our mission in return."

"And what mission would that be?" Fon wandered aloud.

Mace stood proudly. "To save the galaxy from extragalactic invasion. Creatures welding technology of flesh and stone threaten our homes, they wait in the unknown regions."

In that moment, every Mandalorian in the camp turned to face the Jedi before looking at each other in confusion. All except Fon. "So… they're finally making their move then." He grimaced.

"You know?" Mace asked surprised. "How?"

Fon fired a blaster shot at the pile of logs one of his men had gathered and sat down on a crate to the side. "There were stories. Creatures studying the galaxy, people going missing in outer rim territories near unknown space. A great warrior of my clan before Ordera splintered from Ordo, he told a story of how an asteroid… activated, as if coming to life, covered in growths and veins with stone like a grotesque living boulder. It fled deep in to the unknown regions, possibly leaving the galaxy as we know it. My father told me that story when I was just a boy, as his father told him and so on, but I never forgot the fear in his voice despite never seeing them himself. The very idea of them scared him, scared me too, to be honest. We have much to discuss, Jedi."

That night, Barriss, Windu and Fon shared what they knew of the far outsiders with each other, along with possible ways to slow them down or even stop them. They talked long into the night, with all three finally resting with a couple hours to go before dawn. During her slumber, Barriss dreamt of her master, Luminara, and whether she would attempt to rescue her. Deep down, she was dead set on saving her, she could feel her still out there, the sound of her master's screams woke her.

Barriss shot up, looking frantically left and right for any threat incoming, there was none. The guard on duty simply stared at her before returning his gaze towards the wreckage of the other ship. He did speak, however. "Do you know if Ashoka Tano survived?" The young mandalorian in blue and silver armour asked.

This wasn't surprising to Barriss, not after what master Windu had told her. Ashoka saved Mandalore. She didn't realise that she was paving way for an imperial takeover, no one could fault her for that. It seemed only natural that these men were curious about her survival. "She's alive. I only have the force to guide me, but it tells me she's alive." She smiled at the trooper.

The sound of the crackling fire was all that occupied the space between them as the young man finally spoke once more. "I know who you are, Barriss Offee. I know what you did to my friend. Fon may be willing to work with you, but I need to know that you won't betray us too."

He took off his helmet to reveal that he was remarkably close to her in age, maybe a year or two older. His dark blonde hair and narrow features showed a strong resemblance to the late Dutchess Satine, but there was something else familiar about him that Barriss couldn't quite put her finger on. "My name is Korkie Kryse. Ashoka was a good friend of mine, my people owe her everything. So I ask again. How do I know that you won't betray us too?"

Barriss remembered Korkie from Ashoka's telling of her mission to Mandalore over a year ago. How she and a group of students discovered that the Prime Minister had deep ties to the black market and saved Dutchess Satine after she had been kidnapped. This felt like the force just toying with her now. Of all the people in the galaxy, she just happened to be in the presence of a good friend of Ashoka Tano? No, this was a test. A chance to prove herself, a chance to show that she is no longer the lost padawan who commuted such horrible crimes.

"Korkie… The things that I've done, the people I killed… nothing I ever do will ever make it right. I will never be the trustworthy Jedi I once was. I'll never make it all the way back to being good, but I believe that this is my chance to be better than what I currently am. I can only do that day by day… so I can't give you a reason to trust me… not yet."

He eyed her up and down, not in a manner that most young men would stare at a young woman, but in a way that showed he was studying her, trying to spot any sort of facial expressions to indicate if she speaks the truth. Finally, he spoke. "Well then, I suppose for now, trying to be better will have to be good enough. I'll be keeping my eye on you, don't doubt that… but I would be lying if I said I hope you fail."

The gleaming light of the sun was slowly emerged from the horizon, and with it, Korkie walked over to every trooper sleeping and nudged them with his foot as he walked past. Instinctively, all Mandalorians shot awake and assembled their gear. Windu slowly woke to the sound of clunking armour and equipment.

"I take it it's time, then?" The Jedi master asked rhetorically.

"We have the equipment to try and disarm him, and we do have a special toy to block an attack from a lightsaber. A surprise attack from a pair of lightsaber welding Jedi will definitely help though." Fon briefed them.

Mace looked over at Barriss with concern before she spoke up. "I don't have mine. It's gone."

Fon looked at his former fellow inmate puzzled, he shrugged it off as he opened a long crate. "Then you'll make better use of this than any of us would." He said as he pulled a scimitar from its container and threw it to the Padawan.

Barriss caught the blade by the oddly long handle and inspected it. The handle itself looked to be made of a metal frame with a dark red tint in some areas, but the main grip of the weapon itself was made of wood. A very strong wood by the looks of it.

Wait.

Charcoal and maroon. This was one of the weapons she saw in her vision.

"Where did you get this?" She snapped.

Fon looked off into the distance, trying to picture where he had acquired the blade. "Uhh, it wasn't that long ago, maybe a month? Some wingless Geonosian sold it to me on Abathar, pretty good deal if I say so myself. Did you know they've started mining again? Could've sworn that planet was stripped dry, but it worked out in our favour when we had to refuel while tracking Maul." He trailed off.

Abathar.

Barriss held her hands to her head in an attempt to process the information. Elements from her visions were becoming reality much sooner than she had predicted. What if they didn't have those three years to prepare while the Gungans developed their colony ship? What if Slick isn't even on Abathar yet? Who was this Geonosian? Was he making the weapons? Where are the others she saw in her vision?

"Padawan!" Mace shouted. Breaking Barriss out of her trance. "Talk to me." He pleaded.

"Master, the weapons! From the vision, this is one of them!" she exclaimed as she pressed the button on the vibroblades handle, causing it to hum and glow with a light blue edge around the blade.

Mace looked closer at the ignited weapon. "Hmmm… An ion battery, giving a cortosis blade an edge of concentrated heat and light. Strange, cortosis was only ever found in one place. The lost planet of Balmorra"

"Lost planet? How do you lose a planet?" Fon asked.

Mace answered "During the height of the great Galactic war, Balmorra was the mining ground for both sides, mining cortosis, manufacturing weapons, you name it. Then one day, the planet just… wasn't there. It was gone and nobody knows where it went or how it disappeared. I suppose that's another mystery for another time."

Frustrated, Barriss shouted again. "Master, the vision-"

Mace Windu had grabbed Barriss and quickly brought her into a hug. This was an extremely strange situation for both of them, but it was the only way Mace could think of to calm the girl down. He slowly let go of her and spoke.

"Barriss. I know. I know this weapon is one we foresaw. I know your friend just mentioned Abathar. But right now, we have a duty as protectors of the peace to stop Maul from endangering anyone else here and now. Do you understand?"

She took a deep inhale before letting out an "Okay"