Kiara stared out of the cockpit and wondered by how much her calculations had been off by. Nowhere in sight were there any purrgil. Not even one. She leaned back in her chair and blew out a breath.

"Well, so much for that idea..." She looked over the scanner to double check that there was in fact nothing to be found in the scanning radius. She swallowed. She wasn't sure what to do next. Still, it didn't hurt to try and reach for the improbable a few times, right? She lowered the cloak and moved on to the next system to set up.

She operated her communications panel and had the system send out a repeating message on frequency zero. She'd been able to look through the Ghost's comm logs to glean what message Ezra had sent out by way of Mart on that day on Lothal. She then sat in her captain's chair and waited. She didn't know if anything would happen, but it wasn't as if she had any place to be. No. In fact, she needed time to just think and sit. To mull over her experience back in the temple.

What was it called when she was inside the pocket dimension? The Infinity Gate. A gateway that the Kwa had used to move instantaneously through space many thousands of years before the formation of the Jedi. By doing so, they were able to manipulate time when inside the actual Gateway. That was how she was in there for years, how many she had lost count of while learning and studying, without any time having passed for those outside it. She was taught by the spirits of so many Kwa but learning of how to use the force as they did and actually putting it into practice were two different things. She needed to put what she learned into action. To train with the practical aspects of it. To allow the Cosmic and Living Force to both merge and guide her. Only by creating a symbiotic relationship with the force will she truly find balance and, with it, control.

"Tac," Kiara called to the techno-service droid as she stood up.

"Yes, Mistress Kiara?" The droid floated into the cockpit.

"I'm going outside. Keep a watch over things, will you?"

Tac tiled his head in confusion. "Outside, Mistress?"

"That's right. I'm going to meditate but tell me if you start picking anything up."

"Could you give me an idea of what to expect to detect?"

"Hopefully? Purrgil."

Kiara then headed toward the forward airlock where the emergency space suits were located for when she may need to make external repairs while in space. She then carefully went through the first hatch to the hull and locked it behind her before opening the final hatch and with the use of both her booster rockets as well as the magnetic locks on her boots she made her way to the top of the Shadow Chaser. Truth be told, this was always her favorite view. Sitting on the top of her ship with nothing but a space suit between her and oblivion. In some strange way, it always made her feel more connected with the galaxy itself.

She sat and fastened her safety harness to the ship to keep her in place as she then set about meditating. She sensed the galaxy at large and, now that she knew what to look for, could even sense the presence of the Kwa spirits within the Galactic Force. She focused on finding the place between the light and the dark, the shadows, where the balance of the two would be found. By doing so, she would find that balance within herself.


Sabine sent out a message to the Shadow Chaser to inform Kiara, or Tac, that they had information that she needed to pass on to her and that it would be best to not send it over subspace. She then prepared to leave and return to go to the common area of the ship when a transmission came in. Surprised, she turned back and opened the comm link and saw the ever-cheerful droid that served Kiara. The polar opposite of Chopper, Sabine thought with a wry grin. She had yet to see the droid complain about anything.

"Mistress Sabine, you said that you have urgent news for Mistress Kiara?"

"Yes. But it would be best for the safety of everyone involved that we do not discuss it over the comms." Sabine was trying to subtly detect the location of the transmission's origin as she spoke.

The droid tilted its head as if he were trying to determine his next words. "Would not knowing this information place Mistress Kiara in danger?"

Sabine considered her words before saying, "It's possible. It has to do with the Imperial who has been hunting for her. But I don't feel comfortable with saying more-"

"My primary function is to place Mistress Kiara's safety of utmost importance. That overrides any other orders that I may have." The droid spun around from its neck down and then fully faced the transmitter once more. "I have sent our coordinates directly to your ship. I will prepare for your arrival."

With that, the droid cut the transmission. That left Sabine just a bit shocked but relieved. With the enhancements that the other woman had made to her ship, getting even a generalized location via an open communication hadn't been easy. But now, Tac had given her the exact location of where the missing member of the family was at. She made the calculations to change their hyperspace jump then headed back to join the rest of the crew.

When she did, it was Hera who looked up from trying to feed Jacen some sort of baby food. Sabine didn't want to know what it was supposed to be.

"Did I detect a change in the ship's direction?"

Sabine nodded. The woman knew her ship and could sense the slightest change in it at any given moment. "We're going to intercept Kiara."

The entire crew was surprised, to say the least, most especially both Kanan and Kallus.

"You were able to contact Kiara?" Kanan asked surprised.

"Not exactly. Tac responded to the message that I sent, and he gave me the coordinates," Sabine explained. "When I mentioned it could possibly affect Kiara's safety and that we shouldn't share some of it over subspace he overrode any other orders that he had. We should be there in just a couple of hours."

Kallus thought back to the droid in question. "That droid just earned an oil-bath for sure, for this." His smile faltered before asking, "So Kiara doesn't know that we are coming, then?"

"I don't know. Tac did say that he'd prepare for our arrival. That likely would include telling Kiara, right?" Sabine gave a sympathetic smile toward the man. He acted tough but she's learned enough about him in the last couple of years to know that sometimes there was a crack in that rough exterior. And Kiara had the tendency of revealing those cracks in him. "But in any case, we'll all get to see her this evening."

Kallus nodded and thought about the woman and her message that she'd left several months ago. He got up to return to the cabin that he shared with Zeb and sat on the bunk alone and thought about the fact that he was going to get to see Kiara again very soon.


Kiara sensed it just before she saw it. Dozens of purrgil dropped out of hyperspace all around her. She looked up from her place on top of her ship and took in a sharp intake of air from her tanks. If she had been impressed by the view when she'd been in her cockpit the one she had now was completely and totally mesmerizing.

"Mistress Kiara-"

"I see them, Tac. Just keep monitoring them. I'll be in when I'm finished."

"But-"

"I'll be alright."

Kiara then shut off her comm device as she focused in on the purrgil. She saw where the largest of the pod seemed to take an interest in her and she watched as it drifted closer to her. It let out a growl as if it was irritated that she'd called it here with her call with the ship's communication system. She peeled back her own mind's defenses and sensed the animal probing her.

"I'm looking for someone. I think he is a friend of yours," Kiara addressed the lead purrgil. It growled but didn't do much else. Instead, it felt as if the creature wanted to probe her mind further. Wanted to know why she was interested in the young man. She swallowed hard and brought her memories of the day on Lothal as well as the concern of the others for the young Jedi to the forefront of her mind. She then sat on the top of her ship in communion with the purrgil for the next couple of hours. She needed them to trust her if she expected them to tell her, or better take her to, where Ezra was at.


Elios stepped behind the admiral and growled. "Well?"

"The ship still shows on our system. That means that they have yet to find the tracker that was placed while docked on the rebel medical ship."

"Good. When it comes out of hyperspace, I want to set course. And have the special torpedoes ready for testing. If all goes well, then we will have the first of our gifts to give to the emperor soon."

"Yes, sir." The admiral gave a curt nod as he turned to direct his staff to carry out the orders.

Elios could tell that the man hoped to be given more information regarding his plan, but he didn't require such information to be useful. He only needed to do what was expected of him. The Moff turned and returned to his office to go over the information that he had on the crew of the ship that he was tracking. The same allies that he'd already researched when looking into those who had aided his daughter. But now, they were more than just his daughter's allies. He looked at the image of the Jedi on the file that he had pulled up and grimaced.

"So, Caleb. You've returned." Elios's jaw shifted as he thought about the fact that the boy that he once called son was now a Jedi and the bane of the Empire's existence. "Perhaps it would have been best if you had remained dead with the rest of the Jedi."

The man shook his head and continued to reread the updates to the file since it was confirmed by his Twi'lek spy that he was actually Kiara's brother. Apparently, the idea of not sharing their relationship once they learned of it had not crossed their minds. A mistake and he would exploit it.


The entire crew crowded into the cockpit when they prepared to drop out of hyperspace. When the stars returned to their natural state around them Kallus was the first to speak up.

"What the hell is she doing?" His jaw dropped when he spotted Kiara sitting on top of her ship in the midst of dozens of purrgil all floating around the Shadow Chaser. Many dangerously close to the ship and the woman on top.

"Why does this remind me of Ezra?" Zeb asked as he shook his head.

"Because she's trying to recreate the relationship that he had with them," Hera said with clarity. "Of course. Why didn't we think of it before?"

Outside the purrgil swam away from both ships and once they were clear they glowed and then jumped back into hyperspace. When they did Kiara could be seen shaking her head as she made her way back toward the Shadow Chaser's forward airlock to return to the interior of it.

When that was done, Hera moved the Ghost to dock with the other ship. Once they were in place and the procedure completed, she and the others headed toward their own airlock where Kallus had somehow already beaten them to it. When they were all there the man pressed the sequenced into the ship's computer that caused the hatch to open. As it did the crew could hear Kiara speaking to Tac with her discarded space suit on the deck beside her where she'd left it when she removed it.

"You could have told me that they were coming."

"I did try. It was when purrgil first arrived, but it appears that your comm device had malfunctioned. I couldn't reach you any longer." The droid dropped just a bit in the air in response to his mistress's displeasure. When he spotted the others making their way through the airlock, however, he twirled and floated forward to greet them. "Master Kallus. It is so good to see that you are fully functional again."

"It's good to see you, too, Tac," Kallus said but he was already trying to judge if the droid was the only one pleased to see the rest of them. "Kiara."

Kiara wasn't happy that Tac had apparently gone behind her back, but she was glad to see that Kallus seemed to be fully healed; though she knew that even if he wasn't he wouldn't let anyone know. She stepped forward and wrapped the man in a hug and made no move to step away as he did the same. She felt him rest his chin on top of her head as she was able to hear his heartbeat beneath her ear from its place on his chest.

"Alright, you two." Kanan stepped forward. "There are others here who are happy to see my sister, you know."

Kiara laughed as she released Alexsandr and turned to hug her brother. When she released him, she spotted Jacen in Hera's arms and smiled. "He's gotten so big."

"Yeah, well that happens when you are gone for months without a word to the rest of us."

"Here we go." Kiara sighed before she led the crew back toward the common area of her ship. "I know that you are all unhappy. For now, let's just jump to what Tac said that you had to tell me. About some sort of news that you needed to pass on in person rather than through a transmission."

"We found the spy that the Moff had to infiltrate the rebel base." Kallus said as he took a seat at the dejarik table. Kanan and Hera took the couch along with Sabine and Zeb took the seat across from Kallus. Kiara took another seat to face the rest at the same time. "Salora."

"Salora?" Kiara thought back to the Twi'lek in question. "But Suaren wasn't even her first posting."

"And all of them met with similar ends that it met," Kallus said as he shook his head.

Kanan then added, "But when she learned about you, she was the one to share with the Moff about your location; as well as more."

"Such as?" Kiara asked. At least now she knew how Elios knew that she was on the planet.

"We didn't exactly make the fact that we're siblings a secret when on base. So, she told the Moff about our relationship," Kanan said and waited for her to process that information. "I know you thought that you were protecting everyone when you left. Thought that it would keep the Moff away, but now-"

"Now he'll come after you anyway," Kiara finished for him. She slowly took in a breath and, equally slowly, released it. "So, is that why you are here rather than back at the base?"

"We had to abandon the base," Hera said from her place beside of Kanan. "At least for now. We didn't want to risk another raid. We're getting ready to head to the rendezvous when we leave here. We were hoping that you'd come with us."

Kiara looked torn, especially when she looked over at Alex. After a moment's consideration she shook her head, much to the disappointment of everyone else in the room. "I think I'd be more useful out here. There isn't much that I can actually do at a base. But out here-"

"You are trying to get the purrgil to help you find Ezra," Sabine asked for confirmation. "That's why they were here."

Kiara shrugged. "It's been one of the things that I've been doing while out on my own."

"One of?" Kanan asked. "What else have you been doing?"

"I've been going to several ancient temples from before the Jedi. And I found one that belonged to the Kwa that was particularly illuminating."

"How so?"

"There was a gateway similar to the one on Lothal. Along with its guardians. I spent some time learning inside the gateway. It's... difficult to explain. You know from being in the one in Lothal that they defy physics along with nearly any other scientific measurement." Kiara watched for a reaction as she said, "I was actually inside the temple for several years only to return to nearly the same moment of time that I first went in."

"You're kidding?" Zeb asked. Why was it that things tended to get so weird like this when the force was involved?

"No. I learned a lot from the spirits of the Kwa while there but... I suppose I was dovetailing both research projects together. Used what I learned in there to try to get the purrgil to trust me. Today was the first time that they actually showed up when I sent out the call that Ezra had Mart and Wolffe send out on Lothal."

"That's what you were doing out in the middle of space on top of your ship when we showed up?" Kallus asked with a combination of curiosity and irritation.

"Guilty." Kiara laughed before she asked, "What is that look for? I actually enjoy doing space walks. I always have. And by doing it, I showed the purrgil that I trust them, even if they don't trust me, yet. That will come in time."