Helene, one of the other Inquisitor Trainees, had just finished searching her temple for whatever prize they expected to find. There were plenty of symbols and runic languages written all over, all of which she recorded, but there was no sort of prize to be found; no great power which Vader wanted so much.

She had nothing else for her there, so she quickly hopped into her ship and flew to the next closest temple. Garm, the third trainee, was closer to her than Mara was. She'd much rather go to Mara than Garm, not that it meant she hated him, she just preferred Mara over him; she preferred her over most boys, in fact.

Helene landed her ship near the temple and began to investigate with one hand on her saber hilt. She called out Garms name, wondering why he wasn't answering his communicator. She tried calling him on the way here but there was never an answer. Maybe the temple was a dead zone? It was the same case for the one she explored earlier.

She approached the main door of the temple and found it closed shut. She could only assume Garm was inside since his ship was still here. She knocked, expecting some kind of answer. When she didn't get one, she used the Dark Side to push the doors open.

What she saw horrified her.

It was one large room, and in the center laid Garms body. His hands were sliced off, and he had been stabbed in the chest. Helene ran up to him with the slimmer of hope that he was still alive. His eyes were wide open, all the life drained from them.

Her mind denied the sight, but her body could not as she cried.

…

Mara and Avlis noticed the next room of the temple looked different than the last one they were in. There were no spheres to pull, but the door leading out was shut just like before. There were now only two statues of warriors in armor, one on each side of the room. They were holding large spears, and unlike the rest of the temple, they were made of metal.

The symbols on the ground that divided the room had suddenly lost their color. Both warriors felt a gust of energy rush in on them, like a window opened to let the air inside. Now, they could feel each other's presence in the Force again. The barrier that separated them was no longer active; nothing was dividing them anymore.

Mara had instantly pulled out her saber and pointed it at him in an attempt to strike fear, and show him how serious she was before. Avlis expected nothing less as he drew out his own blade, keeping it in a defensive position. Her posture was far more confident than his, but he couldn't let himself worry. If he chose to let his fear of her win, he would succumb to the Dark Side.

Though the barrier had gone down, they could still feel each other's emotions coming from within themselves. They could still feel each other's fear as though it were their own. It made them hesitate to fight one another, like a divide was still between them.

The statues rumbled from their place and froze the Force users where they stood. Dust erupted from their joints as they stepped off their pedestals; a glow emitted from within them and shined through the seams. One was blue, and the other was red. They stepped slowly toward the duo with their weapons raised high, threatening them with their body language.

"That's not you, doing this, right?" Avlis asked.

Mara ignored him and dashed forward, bringing her saber down on the statue diagonally. Her saber bounced off the metal compound and sent her stumbling, long enough for the statue warrior to make a move and stab his spear forward. She jumped out of the way and kept her saber in front of her. The statue charged at her with powerful footsteps and came in for a sideways slash, which she managed to flip over and strike with her blade.

Avlis, distracted from watching her, almost didn't see the other statue warrior coming at him. He rolled out of the way just as it brought its foot down. He kept on the defensive, using his saber as the middle-man between him and the spear. Using the Force, he was able to make himself a little lighter and glide across the ground in small spurts to avoid the larger opponent. He could see from Mara's own battle that their sabers did nothing against them, and they don't seem to feel fatigue.

The solution was obvious, he just had to take a chance.

Using the Force, he glided under the statues legs and lead him toward Mara. When she saw him coming, she got on the defensive, assuming he was trying to attack her. Instead, he leapt over her as the statue came charging for a swing. Once it was close enough, he grabbed Mara by the shoulders and brought her to the ground just as the statue swung and struck its brother dead-on. The attack destroyed the upper part of its body and brought it crumbling down.

Mara got to one knee while still holding her saber as Avlis kept his squat low to the ground. She caught onto what Avlis already understood and put her saber away on her belt. Standing straight, she put out both her hands and used the Dark Side to grab the dead statues spear and lift it into the air. When the other opponent came for another attack, she hurled the spear straight for it and struck it directly in the chest.

Despite the damage, it still moved, so Mara performed one final swing of her arm and brought the spear upward through the statues body. It crumbled into two piles as she dropped the spear to the ground.

As the dust seemed to settle, the two found themselves breathing heavily from the ordeal. Neither of them wanted to move in case the room had thrown something else at them, so they waited just a moment now. They could feel each other's rush of adrenaline, fueled by emotions like rage and desire, both of which could be confused for one another in the right lighting.

When Mara finally calmed down, she looked to Avlis who stood right beside her, no more than a few feet away. She thought about attacking him and continuing what she started, but she wasn't going to be stupid. This couldn't have been the last challenge that this temple would throw at them, and it was obvious these challenges were trying to promote teamwork. There was a theme to this place, like a story would have. This story would have an ending; the temple would give up what it was hiding eventually.

"How did you know that would work?" Mara asked.

"I figured the same metal they were made from could also destroy them."

"You couldn't have shouted 'hey, make it hurt itself'?"

"Would you have listened?"

When the next door finally opened for them, Mara took a deep breath and crossed her arms.

"Let's keep moving," She said, "Who knows what's in store next?"

Avlis, understanding her reluctant compliance, nodded as they continued forward.

Where they found themselves next was a long and dark hallway. Dim torches were lighting their way forward. They were hanging high above them and keeping most of the light on the ceiling. At the end of the hall was a double-door, likely one for each of them. There was finally a real moment of calm after the trials they have already faced, and neither of them could help falling into their thoughts.

Avlis admittedly felt uncomfortable around her. Even though he could sense her emotions, he still didn't know what she was going to do. After all, she was the enemy; he was taught to run from her or fight as a last resort. Now, he was working with her in this strange place just to meet a possible demise later. Nothing about this was ideal, not with the Empire involved.

Mara, however, felt angry rather than uncomfortable. She didn't want to be working with him; she was taught to kill people like him. If Vader ever found out she worked together with a Jedi, even for a moment, he'd likely kill her without hesitation. She had the opportunity even now to kill him and be done with it, but there was a chance she needed him to get out of here.

The door behind them had shut tightly. An invisible force pulled Mara and Avlis to separate sides of the hallway. The written line that divided the hallway in two glowed and put another barrier between them as they felt the Force be cut off from the other side. Water poured out of holes that opened in the ceiling. Each side of the hall began filling up with water, unable to pass the barrier and fill the other side. The water pushed against the barrier between the warriors like an invisible aquarium wall.

Mara attempted to use the Dark Side to push the water away from her and keep it contained in one spot. Even as she kept it away from her, the water continued to build up and she wasn't sure how much more she could keep back. Avlis attempted to do the same, though he wasn't as successful as she was.

"Find something to turn this off!" Mara commanded.

Avlis looked around the hall and finally found something on the ceiling toward the exit. It was a switch hanging upside down. He tried using the Force to reach for it, but the switch seemed to resist him. He could feel it in his grasp, but he couldn't pull on it. Why did he think this was going to be that easy?

He leapt into the air and bounced between the walls until he reached the lever on the top, hanging from the ceiling as he used his free hand to grab the lever and pull it toward him. Instantly, the water began to calm down on Mara's side and drain away for her as she slowly relaxed her resistance.

Avlis jumped back down to push back on the water still flooding his side. Now that Mara was safe, the water from her side must have been flooding to his, because now there was more than before. As much as he pushed, the water was rushing and getting larger than he could handle. There must have been another step he was missing. Looking around, he saw another level on Mara's side, parallel on the ceiling to where his was. He begged her to jump up and pull the lever for him.

She hesitated.

After he had pulled the lever, the door on her side had opened up the way. The next room was available for her. She didn't see any other doors inside, which meant it must have been the final room. She could go on without him if she so wished, but that's only assuming she didn't still need him. Maybe she could let him drown and fulfill her purpose as an Inquisitor, but she may risk the prize for Lord Vader.

Avlis called out to her again, but she still ignored him as she proceeded to the next room alone.

Like the previous rooms, there were statues standing around the rooms with images drawn on the walls. In the center of the room was a pedestal with two buttons on the side. It was clear something was supposed to rise out from the pedestal with how the top was designed; crevice's that look like they'll spiral outward once activated.

Runes were drawn on the two buttons of the pedestal. One mimicked the symbols burned onto her hand, but the other was different. She did try to press the buttons together but nothing had happened.

She still needed him after all.

Mara ran back to the previous room and didn't hesitate to jump toward the ceiling and pull the lever. By this point, Avlis was cornered by the water from all sides and struggled to keep it away until it finally started draining. He didn't let go of his grip on the Force until all of it was gone. For a moment, he really thought he was going to die after she had left him, and that caused so much fear.

The barrier dividing them vanished and united the duo once again as Avlis's door opened for him.

"You left me," Avlis accused, breathing heavily, "You left me to die! I could have drowned!"

"I told you I would kill you after this," She reminded him, "If there was an opportunity to leave you, I would have taken it."

"We should be working together!"

"Can we just keep going?"

He couldn't stop himself from feeling rage toward her. She said she was going to kill him, yes, but they hadn't reached their goal just yet. The first opportunity she had and she tried to leave him behind; exactly like an Inquisitor.

They moved forward and Mara showed him the pedestal she had found, "I don't think I can open it by myself," She said, pointing to the buttons.

He looked between the buttons and her with a dirty look that she couldn't help but notice.

"What?" She asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Can you swim? Maybe I should have left you back there."

"Please, you would have died without me."

"I would have died WITH you!"

"OOo, the Jedi is getting feisty. Isn't that against your code?"

He growled and clenched his fist, trying to contain his anger, "We don't know what lies ahead; we need to keep working together until this is over."

"And then I kill you."

"And then you TRY."

She laughed, "Challenge accepted."

They stared at one another for a moment. Avlis held a stern frown while she held a sinister smile. The way she thought and the way she spoke were different, but connected, and he could feel it. She was just as scared of him as he was of her, but she hid behind the Inquisitor stereotype for safety. He had done the same; hiding behind the Jedi mindset. He wondered if they would actually get along if they acted like themselves.

They pushed their hands on the buttons and the gears inside the pedestal began to move. The top opened up and another surface was pushed upwards, revealing a familiar yet unknown set of objects for them.

The pedestal presented to them a pair of lightsabers, propped upward by a small stand. The sabers were elegant and advanced, more so than any saber they had ever seen. The tops and bottoms of them were silver and white with a curve where the blade would ignite. The center was a brown handle grip, made from a softer material than the rest of the saber. There was a strange energy coming from the weapons; the same energy they felt from the barriers that had kept them separated before.

"This is what we're after?" She asked as she took one of the sabers into her hands, "Lightsabers?"

Avlis took one of the sabers and examined it, "One for each of us. How convenient."

"All those energy readings for a Lightsaber, though?" She asked, hitting the button that activates it.

From the top of the hilt ignited a white blade. The energy coming off it was unlike anything she had ever felt before, as though she could feel the power of the kyber crystal inside, surging through her fingers. Suddenly, she wanted to take back all of her doubt and trade it for fascination.

"White kyber crystals?" Avlis said, igniting his own and admitting the white blade, "Those are rare. They're supposed to represent purity and freedom. I've never seen one in person before …"

The temple seemed to shake for a moment and throw them off balance. The wall in front of them opened like a double-door and let the sunlight in. When the light had reached them, their palms began to burn. The symbols engraved on their skin were moving and changing. What remained were a set of dots and curved lines, positioned different for each of them.

The new exit outside led to what looked like a landing pad, covered in carvings of the symbols inside. The landing pad rested upon a hill that overlooked endless ocean. This had to be the end of it; the trails were over, and these lightsabers were the prize.

"Hey," asked Avlis, "Did your hand change too?"

His senses kicked in with his disappointment as he used the force to fling his lightsaber into his hands, igniting is and blocking Mara's attack as her red saber nearly struck him.

"Seriously?!" He complained.

"I already told you what would happen!" She shouted.

"Why are you trying so hard to sound like something you're not?!"

In a fit of rage, she pushed back on him and continued her assault. Avlis remained on the defensive as he blocked each attack. Left! Right! Duck! Shuffle back! He repeated these words In his head like he did during training. Only, this wasn't training; this was a real fight and she wanted him dead.

Desperate, he ignited the white lightsaber and used it in a dual-wield stance. When she would strike, he'd block with one blade and slap her away with the other. Of course, it didn't take her long to mimic his choice and use her own white saber. Now, he needed to look out for both her weapons while keeping track of his own.

He could feel how scared she was. She didn't want to fail and risk Vader's anger, just as he didn't want to risk his own masters disappointment. No wonder she tried to hard to sound like a real inquisitor; blood thirsty and merciless, lacking any and all compassion for another life.

Maybe she was merciless, but she wasn't without hope; he could feel it.

The white sabers collided with one another as they struggled to push the other off balance. The sound these sabers made was different from any traditional version of the weapon. There was almost a stronger reverb with every swish, as though it could slice straight through the Force itself, and they could feel it with every attack.

A gust of wind blew them off balance as Mara's ship, the Arrowhead, quickly came into view above them. Mara could see the droid T.R-07 waving from the cockpit window. He had lost her signal after she went inside, only just getting it back a few moments ago.

Avlis knew now he couldn't win this fight. Instead, he escaped the clash with Mara and chose to jump straight off the landing pad and over the hill they sat on. Mara ran to the edge and watched him dive down toward the water, disappearing into its deep blue color.

He gasped for air as he swam to shore somewhere east of the temple. He wasn't too far, but he was out of Mara's view for the moment. His body dragged to the shore as sand stuck to his damp clothing. He was too tired to keep himself up as his muscles collapsed on him.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was a pair of feet walking toward him.

…

Mara spent twenty minutes with T.R trying to find Avlis somewhere in the water. They performed every scan in the book but they weren't able to locate him anywhere. She would have believed he was dead if not for her connection to the Force. If he had really perished, she would have felt it somehow; felt the grip of his life loosen and fall into death. No, she had to assume he escaped her with the other half of the prize Vader wanted. At least she wouldn't return empty handed.

"Contact the others," Mara told the droid, "And tell them I found what we were looking for."

The droid obeyed her without fault and turned to contact the other Inquisitor trainees. It only took a moment for one of them to answer the call; Helene.

"Helene," Mara greeted, "The temple I explored had something inside-"

"Mara!" Helene answered, sounding as though she had been crying, "I was trying to contact you before-!"

"Calm down! What's wrong?"

"After I found my temple was empty, I flew over to Garms to see if he needed any help."

"And?"

She was silent with her tears but spoke through the static and hiccups, "He's dead."

It felt as though all the sound in the room went numb for Mara. Helene begged for some kind of response from her as she continued to grieve over their lost friend, but Mara just backed away from the console. She didn't know Garm as well as she knew Helene, but he was still a friend and partner in training. How could he have possibly been dead? He was trained by the Empire! No, she had to be mistaken. He wasn't dead; there was just no way.

"Did …did you find his body?" Mara asked, begging that the answer be no.

"… yes …his hands were cut off and there was a stab wound in his chest," she choked, "Mara, the wounds are burnt all the way through; It was a lightsaber."

Now, all that numbness was replaced with pure rage. She had only met one other person on this planet with a lightsaber who would have wanted an Inquisitor dead. Yet, that boy was with her the entire time, and likely arrived around the same time as her. Mara, Helene and Garm showed up on the planet at the same time. Would the boy have had time to kill Garm before coming here?

She didn't care; she needed someone to blame.

She waited until she had hung up the call with Helene to let out a hellish scream that Force pushed every movable object on the ship to the ground, shaking the windows and the ship as a whole. The very thought of loss and death hit her harder than most. It was the memory that the Jedi had reminded her of before; one she tried too hard to push out of her mind. She wanted to pretend it never even happened; that her entire life has always been the Empire.

"Ms. Dane!" shouted T.R, "Please! We'll crash!"

Only after his warning did she finally stop to take a breath and wipe what tears remained on her cheeks. She began doing what she always did when it became too much; she numbed the pain away into nothing. She stared at the ground for some time as the ship managed to claim some balance. She could feel her emotions convert into raw power for the dark side. Channeling those feelings into strength became the only way she could cope with anything anymore.

Now was no longer the time to grieve; she had a mission to complete.

…

As Mara's ship took off into the planet's stratosphere, something still remained on the surface near the temple, waiting until she was completely out of sight. A man dressed in grey armor walked up the hill leading away from the shoreline. A trail of water was dripping from the body of Avlis, who he carried up to the top. He faded in and out of consciousness and could only make out a blurred image of a helmet.

The unknown figure set Avlis down on the drop pad where his star fighter had been left. They took the white saber and placed It firmly in Avlis's grip before walking away. Avlis could only remember a single phrase being uttered by a voice he didn't recognize, but the words stuck to him as he fell asleep once again.

"Seek her …"

…

Mara had returned to the Tanqua Orbiting Station with Helene. Storm Troopers carried Garms body in a box with all his belongings. The only thing that hadn't been found upon his death was the boys lightsaber. There hadn't been any trace of the killer either, an unfortunate fact they needed to accept.

Inquisitor Coven was there to welcome them back. He put a hand on Garms coffin and sighed. "He was a good warrior. He'll be given a proper burial."

And that was it, that was all Coven had to say before gesturing the troopers to take the body away. Three years of training, torture and abuse and Coven had so little to say, as though he didn't even matter. Neither Helene or Mara could believe he was being so cold about this. Neither of them could sense an ounce of sincere grievance over this. Maybe it just didn't matter to him as much as other things.

"Lord Vader awaits you," Coven said to Mara.

They were led back to the meeting room, where that dark figure was waiting for them. He stood just as tall as before, though somehow with even more darkness leaking off of his body. "Mara Dane," Vader spoke, "Did you find what I seek?"

She reluctantly removed the white saber from her hilt and showed it to him. He Force pulled it to his hand to examine the weapon. There was definitely a powerful source of energy coming from the hilt, but it paled in comparison to what their scanners had picked up. This was only a fraction of what he wanted.

"Where is the rest?" He asked angrily.

She was scared to speak, but she knew if she didn't, she would meet a worse fate, "When I arrived at the Temple, I ran into a Jedi. He has a white saber of his own, as well as these," She showed the symbols on her hand, "They were burned into my hand when I got to the temple, and they continue to change."

"You met a Jedi and failed to kill him?" Vader accused.

"The temple required-"

She was immediately Force choked the moment she tried to speak. Vader did not want to accept any kind of excuses from her when it came to eradicating the Jedi Knights. She was expected to complete her mission without failure, and to him, this was still a failure.

"The temple needed two people!" She gasped, "There was no way to complete it without him!"

Vader pondered this carefully. Had the temple tested them, somehow? If so, why? There must have been more to this than just a lightsaber and symbols burned onto one's skin.

Curiously, he released her from the choke hold but pulled her body closer with the Dark Side and forced her to show her burnt hand. She had no control over her muscles now, not with Vader's invisible grip on her body. Though she trained in its ways, the Dark Side still scared her.

Finally, Vader released her and watched her collapse onto her knee', still gasping for air and coughing.

"The symbols on your hand," Vader addressed, "They are star-map coordinates, but only half of a set. I suspect the boy has the other half. Perhaps this temple is only the beginning."

"You believe there to be more?" Asked Coven.

"Correct," Vader knelt down and used the Dark Side to make her look up at him, "You will find this Jedi again, and force him to work with you in finding where this map leads. Follow this trail to the end, and relinquish what you find to me personally. Once that is done, you will bring the boy here as well, and we will break his spirit."

"Y-yes, Lord Vader!" She stuttered.

Satisfied, he released her and began walking away as though nothing had happened, placing the white saber on the table, "Ensure she is supplied for the journey," Vader told Coven as he left the room.

Helene wanted to get up and go to Mara, but she was too scared to look weak in front of Coven, who expected so much out of them. Mara was left on the floor, holding her neck, and numbing away all the horrible things she was feeling right now.

…

Avlis's eyes opened to the piercing light of the sun. His body was damp, but drying from his time under the sunlight. How long was he out? His entire body felt sore from the escape he pulled to get away from that girl. He had swum through the ocean currents until he reached the shore. Except, he was by his starfighter. How did he get up here?

That's right, he remembered now, there was a figure in armor. They had carried him back up to the top. It couldn't have been Master Bando. They spoke before leaving, and they didn't sound like him.

'Seek her', they said. Did they mean that girl?

A quiet beeping came from the console of his ship, and it was enough to make him jump to his feet, open the cockpit, and realize someone was trying to call him. He spared no hesitation to answer.

"Avlis?" The voice belonged to a boy; it was the young padawan, Eedor, "Hello?"

"Eedor," Avlis answered, "I'm sorry that I left without saying anything."

"Everyone is really worried."

"I know. Is master Bando back yet?"

"No, he didn't."

"I see …" It's not like Bando to be gone for so long without saying anything. There's a greater path beyond this planet and these temples; maybe Bando chose to follow them, "I'll be back soon. I just have to find master Bando. Stay safe, ok?"

"Ok …come back soon."

"I will. May the Force be with you."

He hung up and let his body lean against the ship. Fear was starting to creep in slowly just as his master warned. He couldn't let it in again like he always does. Bando was going to be fine; he was a Jedi Master. He goes out all the time and faces dangers to keep them safe. Yet, he couldn't help but feel that something was different about all of this.

A faint whimper caught his ears and stole their sympathy. He recognized the voice; it was her voice, echoing like she was inside a cave. Her presence invaded quickly and without warning, until he could hear her clearer than his own thoughts. Avlis turned around and there she was, sitting on a bed. To him, the girl and the bed were present on the temple grounds, but that's all he could see of where she was, which was likely her room. She was crying and holding her hands to her eyes as she tried to growl the tears away, like scaring them would do anything to make it stop.

In this moment, he felt sorry for her.

"…Hey?" He greeted.

She looked up quickly and drew her lightsaber when she saw him. He backed up in fear and drew his own weapon, ready to attack if he needed to.

Mara wanted to scream at him and attack immediately, but the moment she focused on his presence, she could feel him on a deeper level. His spirit, his heart and soul, it was connecting with her own. It made her hesitate as he felt what he felt.

These were not the feelings of a killer.

Mara retracted the saber and sat back down, refusing to cry in front of the enemy. Avlis put away his own weapon and tried to step closer, but she gave him a look that locked his feet in place.

"Garm is dead," Mara spoke with anger, "One of the …one of my friends who was searching the temples. He was killed by a lightsaber."

"…I'm sorry," He said softly, "But it wasn't me."

"I know …I can feel it," She rubbed the symbols on her burnt hand, "Vader wants me to continue following this trail, and he wants me to make you help."

"And after that? What? You kill me?"

"His exact words were 'break his spirit'."

He could feel how scared she was of Vader, and he couldn't blame her. The very thought of that man sent shivers to the bone, though for slightly different reasons. Few were aware, but Avlis knew what face hid under that mask. He knew it well before the Purge, and it broke his heart to have once seen it so full of malice. Where Avlis felt betrayal, Mara simply felt pure fear.

Gently, he inched himself closer to her, waiting for some reaction against it where there was none. He eventually managed to get close enough where he stood next to the bed, not knowing how far this connection would go in terms of sharing. Still, he gave it a try anyway.

He found himself able to sit on the bed, feeling the sheets between his fingers as he sunk carefully into the mattress. The sheets were cold, which made sense considering she was probably on some kind of space station. He began to perceive more details of the room now that he couldn't before, though they faded in and out as his eyes travelled. One detail that caught his eye in particular was the broken mirror. The crack in the reflection split the two of them apart where they sat.

"…I came to Tanqua to find my master," Said Avlis, "He was following the same signal as you."

Mara looked at him with a hint of rage once again, "Is he the one who killed Garm?"

"I don't know …he's missing. Something in the Force is telling me the only way I'll find him is by following this path to the end. I think you feel it too …"

"You don't know what I feel."

"But I do, just as you know what I feel. We're connected somehow, and it's clearly getting stronger."

She wanted to put in the Inquisitor façade again, but he could already see her tears. She felt his empathy strongly, like he knew what it meant to lose someone, even if you weren't close to them. Perhaps he would know, having survived the Purge three years ago.

She tries not to think about anything before then.

He was right, as well; their connection was getting stronger. She felt something pulling her down this road with him, something beyond their plane of life, beyond the Dark Side and the Force.

"I think we should see this through, together," Said Avlis, "Not because Vader said so, and not because of my master, but because destiny says we should. What if this is the reason why the Force is connecting us? Because only we can find what's at the end? Don't you want to know?"

To be honest, she did, and not because Vader threatened her. She came to the Empire for a sense of purpose, and now it has led her to this new path. Her heart pulled her forward but her mind held her back.

All she wanted to do was matter.

"I want to see this through," She admitted.

"Then we have to stop trying to kill each other."

She looked at him with heavy breathing as her emotions finally started to come to a relaxed state. Perhaps it was because there was now another body to share her feelings with, instead of having them all trapped in one vessel. It felt relieving, like the gates of a dam being opened. Now, there was a chance she couldn't stop.

"We do this …for us?" Mara asked, "Not the Empire? Not the Republic?"

"For us," Avlis agreed, "And …to find my master, too."

"If I find out he killed Garm-"

"I know …I know. Let's pass that star later and worry about getting off the ground first. Deal?"

With a heavy exhale, she nodded, "Deal."

"I'm at the landing pad on Tanqua. Come pick me up when you're ready."

With that, Avlis's image disappeared and left Mara alone in her cold dark room. She no longer felt his presence, and that somehow upset her. She started liking being able to share her emotions with another so she would stop feeling so horrible. Is this the right choice? She'd be doing this for herself and not the Empire. Three years she has spent giving everything to them, but now she wants to take something instead? Is that not betrayal? Then again, no one said following this path would betray them.

There was no way of knowing until she tried.

…

Avlis had waited by his Starfighter, sitting in the cockpit and fiddling with the new white saber. He was admittedly hesitant to trust someone from the Empire, but he could feel that this girl was different. She wanted something beyond the Empire, it's just the Empire that has been able to supply it. The Force wouldn't have brought them together if it wasn't for good reason, and he knew that. He must always trust in the Force.

That is the Jedi way.

The shadow of Mara's ship, the Arrowhead, covered his small starfighter completely. He didn't even have to try; he could feel her on that ship, that's why he didn't hesitate to let her lift his fighter into the cargo bay with a tractor beam, closing the bay doors behind him and taking off toward the stratosphere.

He waited until the machinery had settled before stepping out of his ship and making his way out of the underbelly bay, into the main lounge of the luxury ship. It was far more impressive than anything he had seen from the Republic, before, with a fully-fledged kitchen, beds and living area.

And there she was, standing there with her arms crossed and her eyebrows narrowed. She likely was just as hesitant to work with him as he was, but they both know it was the only way forward. So, instead of trying to kill him, she held out her hand.

"Mara Dane," She greeted.

He took her hand and shook it firmly, "Avlis Bismur.

"And I'm T.R-07!" Said T.R as he got between them extravagantly, making his presence well known on the ship he worked so hard on.

"T.R is our pilot," Said Mara, "We ready to go?"

"Lightspeed is fully operational!" He exclaimed, flying over to the pilot seat.

Mara lead Avlis to the front, where there were three more seats avaliable. Mara had taken the shotgun seat next to T.R while Avlis was forced just behind them, like a third wheel.

"Where to?" asked T.R.

Both Mara and Avlis looked at the symbols on their hands, but Mara was the first to speak up, "Let's find out."