Being back on the Ebon Hawk felt great, but finally leaving Telos felt even better. Avery didn't have long to enjoy it, however, due to T3 blasting her ears off with a stream of information. She finally had to tell him to slow down.

"What is that machine saying?" Kreia asked in a mildly irritated voice.

"It's…it's saying there's a holo record of my trial in Atris' records. The day I was exiled." Her jaw set. "You might as well play it, T3."

The Council room is always intimidating, but for once, Avery is utterly unimpressed. Her posture is rigid, her face composed, as she approaches the circle of chairs. Each Jedi is judging her, each condemning her, but she knows-she knows!- she is right.

"Avery Kess. Do you know why we've called you here?" Vrook, always orthodox, always absolute, has given up on her.

"You have called me here to answer for my actions on Malachor V," she says in a clear voice.

Kavar, her mentor, is barely hiding his pain, but not hiding his disappointment in the least. "As Revan summoned you, so you have come full circle to return to the Jedi."

Zez-Kai Ell, mystified, is asking her now. "Why did you defy us? The Jedi are guardians of the peace and have been for centuries. This call to war undermines all that we have worked for!"

"Is Revan your master now?" Atris is sneering. "Or is it that the horror you wrought at Malachor has caused you to see the truth at last?"

"The 'truth,'" Avery says emphatically, "is that the Mandalorians had to be stopped, or countless more would have died."

"You refuse to hear us. You have shut us out, and so have shut yourself to the galaxy." Zez-Kai Ell looks at the Jedi next to him, waiting for her.

Vash takes a moment, but finally raises her chin. "You, Avery Kess, are hereby exiled, and you are a Jedi no longer."

The record shows Avery physically wilting, as though she's been struck in the stomach. The breath has gone out of her.

"There is one last thing," Vrook adds. "Your lightsabers. Surrender them to us."

Avery slowly, sluggishly looks up. None of them would listen. None of them would see reality. A deep-seated rebellion is glinting in her eyes; her lip is curled up in disgust. Jedi brag about being so connected with everything around them…but they are more detached than anyone. They can't see reason. They are blind, not she.

The Exile rips out her lightsabers, the colors flashing in the pale room. She approaches the center stone, and soundlessly stabs them in. A violet-silver X juts out.

For just a moment, she looks each one deliberately, boldly in the eye. Then she pivots on her heel and walks out proudly.

"Much defiance in her," Kavar says quietly.

"You were correct, Kavar," Zez-Kai Ell tells him. "When she was here, I felt it. It was as if she was not there, more like an echo."

Vash, too, is quiet. "The war has touched the youngest of the Order. Many of them have lost themselves in battle against the Mandalorians."

Atris' forceful tone breaks the shock in the room like a tangible thing. "We have not lost a Jedi this day. You felt it. She has lost herself. She is no Jedi. She walked Revan's path, but she was not strong enough."

Surprisingly, Zez-Kai Ell is disagreeing. "I fear…it is our teachings that may have led Revan to choose the path he did…"

"We take responsibility, Atris, not cast blame," Vash reminds her.

"The choice of one was the choice of us all. Revan's teacher intended no harm, and Revan had many teachers since."

"Yet they all stem from the same source, Kavar." Atris fires back. "His teachings violated the Jedi Code and led all who listened to the dark side, as they did Avery."

Vash looks thoughtful, drums her long fingers on the arm of her chair. "You are wrong. The dark side is not what I sensed in the Exile. Surely the rest of you felt it as well. The…emptiness we felt…she has changed."

"Whatever that was, it was of the dark side. We should not have let her depart! She will simply join Revan again, or perhaps worse!"

"No," Kevar responds. "Although that may come in time."

"What would you have done to her, Atris? Be mindful of your feelings! This is not Revan who stood before you. This one, this girl, walks a different path. We let her go because we must. Where she travels, she carries her destination with her."

"Malachor V should have been her grave." Atris is practically livid now. "You saw it in her walk, in the Force. It was as if she was already dead!"

Vrook gives her a stern glance, and she finally falls silent.

Zez-Kai Ell looks back at the door where Avery had left. "No, not death," he hums quietly. "Many battles remain for that girl. If what we have seen is true, at least. But the future is a shifting thing, and she cuts like a blade through it."

Vash is watching the doorway too. "We should have told her the truth. A Jedi deserves to know."

"No good would have come from it, even if what you believed was true. There is still the matter of Revan, and such truths could leave us vulnerable on two fronts." Vrook stands, turns to the others one at a time. "She may never discover the truth. And she will never know why we cast her out."

"Those last few minutes after my trial…I had no idea," Avery murmured. "So they knew what happened to me. They all knew."

T3 looked up at her, the light in its lens bright blue, and trilled. "Dwoooo."

She gave the droid a halfhearted smile. Looking up, she noticed the other three looking at her silently. For once, no one knew what to say.

T3 chirped again.

"You have a list of the missing Jedi? Sure, display it."

The screen popped up in the center console again. This time, however, there were quick flashes of every Jedi's face, with heavy black text floating at the bottom of each picture.

Master Zez-Kai Ell: Nar Shaddaa

Master Kavar: Onderon

Master Atris: Telos

Master Vash: Korriban

Master Vrook: Dantooine

"Save that, T3," Avery instructed. "I'll be looking at it often. I need to find them. All of them."

Atton was on the bridge as usual, Kreia was resting in the quarters, and Avery was sitting in the main hold, replaying the list until she had it memorized. Bao Dur sat down next to her in companionable silence until she finally thanked T3 and sat back with a breath that rounded her cheeks.

"General," he asked in a moment, "is there a reason you don't carry lightsabers anymore?"

"They were taken from me," she replied deadpan. She didn't meet his eyes. "You saw."

"Those aren't yours anymore. Those belonged to someone who served Revan in the Wars, not the person you are now. Revan taught us both how, so we could build another set if you wanted to."

She turned to him at last, beaming. He bowed his head a little. "I know this- a lightsaber is part of who you are. Without it, you're not complete."

"Right, that's grea- but oh! The parts!" She dropped her head into her hands. "The parts I had…the rarest crystals, the best lenses, the cells-"

Bao Dur sighed. "We can get parts that are just as good."

"But Revan and I used to go out and hunt for the rare ones." Her voice was muffled in her hands. "You can't just go pick 'em up from a merchant. Space, we used diatium and phobium and ossus and-"

"I get it, I get it. We're going to all sorts of places, Avery. You never know what we might find. In the meantime, we can get you a stock one-" He had to start speaking louder when Avery groaned from her hiding place- "just to replace that silly vibrosword you have now until we get some really good parts."

"If it's yellow, I'll cry," she threatened.

"Of course you will," he replied soothingly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go chase down that droid until I give him a nice, refreshing memory wipe."

As she studied the charts, deciding which Jedi to find first, Atton couldn't think of a single thing to say to her. How do you make somebody feel better who got kicked out by the leaders of the group you're a part of? 'Gee, that sucks, but at least they didn't kill ya?'

"Let's try Onderon first." She interrupted his thoughts. "I'd like to find Kavar before anybody else."

"Why?" he asked casually as he set the course.

"He and I were pretty close."

As Atton swiveled in his chair with a wide-eyed look, Avery laughed. "Not like that, gracious. He's a good twenty years older than I am at least. Not really my type."

"So what is your type?" Oh, space. Backtrack, backtrack- "Uh, I mean, how were you and him close? He like a father to you or something?"

She was grinning at him, walking to the chair, but she answered his other question. "Good mentor. Not my greatest mentor like Rev- well, other people were, but he liked me."

"I can't imagine why," he said in mock distaste.

"Can't you?"

"Uh…"

It was so much fun watching him sputter like this. Avery kept going. "He thought I was special, a sort of exception to a lot of the rules that Force users naturally adhere to. Kind of like why I'm alive and recovering from losing the Force instead of lying somewhere as a husk of a Jedi. Back then, in training, I could sort of pull on other people's energy and use it. Kavar was a master Jedi while I was still practically a child in Force ability, but I ended up being able to use powers exclusive to him and those on his level if I fed off of his energy."

She stopped, worried she'd been prattling, but surprisingly he was listening intently. It wasn't like she was discussing dancers or card games, so how could he be this absorbed? He prompted her. "What about Dark side stuff? Could you use that, even as a Jedi?"

Avery nodded. "Early run-ins with Sith allowed me to choke someone from across the room, or when they'd attempt to overload my senses I could flip it back on them. I learned to control that, though, because using the Dark side is always unpleasant. It makes you feel viciously unhappy at the basest level. You build up fear and hatred and pain and the more you feel it, the worse you are: the more powerful your abilities. The channeling is terrible. Sort of like your blood turns to acid in your veins. It's ill and vicious and-"

"-hot," they both finished at the same time. Atton's mouth clamped shut as the Exile's expression grew speculative. If she started digging…

"Don't worry. If you had something you wanted to explain, you would have told me."

Relief and gratitude washed over him. "Thanks, Avery. It's difficult for me to…well, it's not something I talk about. Coming to terms with it isn't a speedy process and I'm taking advantage of my past not showing up on a screen for everyone else to see. Maybe someday I'll…it's not your fault but I just can't trust you enough, since you're…"

She placed her hands on his knees and leaned in, her dark hair falling over one shoulder to brush his shirt. "It's alright. I don't trust you much, either. But if you tell me one day," she smiled a little, looking right into his hazel eyes, "I might tell you what my type is."

Without a backward glance, she left the room. Only when her footfalls had died away did Atton realize he hadn't breathed for way too long. Luckily, his sharp intakes of air were enough to cover the sound of Avery desperately muffling her laughter.

Sometimes it seemed there was a large bullseye painted on the Hawk that none of the party were aware of. They were fired on by the military with a "warning" that lasted maybe a second, and forced to land on some jungle moon.

"I'm pleased to announce that repairs will be necessary before the Hawk can get up and running again," Atton said to the group. "Naturally, as no one else is jumping up to volunteer, I'll be the better person and take care of it."

"Let's check outside first," the Exile told him. "It'd be nice to have an extra blaster in case there's a nice circle of enemies ready to spring on us."

As they stepped out into the dense humidity, Kreia spoke. "This is Dxun, where the Mandalorians began their crusade against the Republic. There are remains of military outposts nearby. We must be careful."

"Where the Mandalorian Wars started?" Atton sighed. "Great. And unless we can find another route to Onderon, we're stuck here."

"We must explore our surroundings. There is…something here."

"I'll take your word for it," Avery remarked. She turned to Atton. "If you want to make the repairs fairly quick, that would be lovely. We'll be back soon, I guess."

When he nodded at her, she walked off with Bao Dur. Atton looked down into Kreia's expressionless face. "What's so important about this place?"

"This is where the war began. She fought here, once, and there are things here she must see."

"She fought here? Why didn't she say anything?"

"Do you speak of all your battles?" Kreia began to follow the other two. "Or are there some you wish to forget?"

The first thing they saw as the group walked through the long grass was a group of cannoks. The creatures' eyes practically bugged out of their heads when they attacked.

"Quite ugly, aren't they?" Bao Dur remarked as he shot through the stomach of one. "Yet I can't seem to look away."

Avery aimed straight for the heart of one foolish enough to charge her head-on. "They're not the only nasty monster out here, either."

"Oh? Can't wait to meet the others."

The cannoks were easily slain, and with the last of them dying at Kreia's blade, a great roll of thunder vibrated the ground. There was going to be rain, and a lot of it.

"Hey Avery," Atton's voice crackled over her headset, "I've got some good news. The space battle is still going on, but the Hawk's sensors just picked up a contact heading to the moon. Most of our ship's systems are powered down, so that's about all I got. That ship may have landed nearby though. Or, hey. It may be on the other side of the moon. So you might want to prepare for another Onderon welcome."

"How is that good news?"

"Oh, right, I forgot. That's not the good news. The good news is that you have the privilege of listening to my voice in your head as I give you updates."

Avery snorted audibly and ended the call just as the rain began.

Kreia readied her weapon, and a couple of seconds later another lovely creature of the jungle made its way out of the wilds. "A maalraa," Avery told Bao Dur as the old woman ran it through. "Tougher and faster than cannoks, but still not much of a threat unless they're in large groups. If you hear high-pitched whines, it's one or several of those."

"Right." The Zabrak looked dismayed. "I guess there was a lot I missed as just a tech in the War."

"You did," she agreed, "but that's for the better. Trust me."

The Exile stopped mid-stride and looked back. She held up a hand for the party to stop.

"There's…three Duros ahead. Bounty hunters. Everyone prepared?"

They nodded silently, and Avery dropped her hand and walked on, head held high. Whether they wanted her dead or alive, they'd be disappointed.

The three bristled as she walked over the crest of the hill. One, the tallest, addressed her from about three meters away. Avery smiled to herself. They're smart enough to be careful, at least.

"You have led us on a very fine chase, human. The battle above was your doing, yes? Our ship is quite damaged now. Throw down your weapons, yes? Your bounties are worth more if you are still very much alive."

"And who are you?" she called back formally.

"I am Dezanti Zhug," the Duros retorted smugly. "You have heard of the Zhug family, yes? We are bounty hunters. Very famous. Very effective."

"Can't say it sounds familiar." She traded amused glances with Bao Dur when the other two brothers muttered indignantly. "Why are you hunting me?"

"The Exchange has put a bounty on your head, Avery Kess. A very profitable amount. My family accepted the job. You have caught the eye of someone very powerful on Onderon, and he wants you dead."

Avery's sword rose and pointed directly at him. "I'm not surrendering, you know."

"Very well. Attack, my brothers!"

There were suddenly nine shots all heading directly for her. She dove to the left, rolled forward, and swept her leg out to trip one Duros. As he landed on his back, she cartwheeled over his body, her support on the hand that held her sword, and with the other snatched up his rifle. Now she had two weapons. She stabbed down into his chest. The other died with a shot through the head. The third frantically fired another round at her, which she easily deflected before Kreia stretched out her fingers and flung him hard against the side of his downed ship. He slumped to the wet ground instantly.

The old woman nodded approvingly at Avery, and the team continued.

There was static in her ear, but when she turned up the volume, Atton's voice was on the line.

"Avery? Avery, c'mon, I was only teasing. You know how I get. I can't help but flirt- it's not just you, it's every female within a reasonable age group-"

"I'm here, Atton. I was in the middle of a firefight. What is it?"

"Oh. That explains things. Ahem. The orbital fighting just ended. That colonel that took the shots at us stirred up a Mynock's nest up there with his 'warning.' I'm still working on the repairs, though, and I have to take down some systems, including sensors. You'll have to do without me for a while. I know, I know. You're crushed."

"I think I'll survive," she replied bitingly.

She heard the smile in his voice. "I'll hurry, just in case."

Due to the amount of wildlife and brush in the area, it wasn't hard to see a Mandalorian body lying in the grass. He'd been dead a long time.

"It appears Dxun isn't as abandoned as we'd hoped," Kreia remarked.

"It looks like there's a campsite up ahead. I'm not sensing a threat, but we should be careful."

Bao Dur took point, and scanned the wilderness around them as they walked up to a small, weak fire. None of them were surprised, however, when a group of Mandalorians made their way out, weapons ready.

"Hold it right there," one snapped. "We've got you surrounded."

Another, in red armor, spoke up. "I'm surprised you got this far- the jungle doesn't usually let its prey go that easily. What are you doing here?"

"Our ship crashed, and we were forced to land here," Bao Dur answered.

"Ah. We expected as much. Few visit Dxun by choice. We have orders to escort you to our camp- our leader wants to speak to you."

Avery looked over her shoulder at Kreia, who nodded, and then she turned back. "Lead on then."

The camp was large and noisy and, if Avery was honest, had the distinct flavor of smelly man hanging in the air. She knew it quite well from the War. There was a huge ring of soldiers fighting in the back: a hand-to-hand tournament. That looked familiar too.

The party was escorted into a concrete base with a remarkable amount of computers surrounding the walls. There was an impressive figure standing in front of one screen, dressed head to toe in sturdy steel armor. He turned as Avery approached and gave her an obvious once-over. Due to the helmet over his face, she couldn't tell if he was unimpressed or not.

"So you're the intruder? Our sensors picked up your handiwork in space. I am Mandalore, leader of the Mandalorians."

"You guys have gotta start thinking up some different names," Atton said as he was led in by other soldiers. "Possibly something without "manda" in the title."

"Ah, yes, we brought your extra crew member in. We assumed you'd understand our caution against an ambush or inside information."

Avery turned and gave Atton an apologetic shrug, but his sarcasm was a sign he was unharmed. She looked back at the leader. "I thought the Mandalorians were disbanded."

"Scattered, perhaps, but we're still alive. Alive and rebuilding. We keep busy."

"I'm not going to waste our time with idle talk, then. I need to get to Onderon."

"Ah, so it's transportation you want? It so happens I have a small shuttle that's more capable of running the Onderon military blockade. I make occasional visits to Iziz for information and supplies. If you want to go with me, you're going to have to prove your worth, however."

She nodded gamely. "No problem."

"You and your party may spend the night here- I'll be departing tomorrow. If you manage to prove your worth, you'll be leaving then as well. Just keep in mind that any attempts at sabotage, relaying information, or assassination will be dealt with easily and promptly."

"Got it." Avery smiled. She liked this guy already. "Thank you, Mandalore."

The party dispersed to various areas of the camp, but Avery made a beeline to the fighter's circles. If Mandalore needed proof of her worth, this would be the most fun way for her to earn it.

There was already a fistfight underway when she approached the apparent soldier in charge. He tore his gaze away from the fight to give her a brief glance, until her stubborn look made him focus on her.

He gave her an appraisal as rough as Mandalore's: no subtlety at all. He seemed to warm up considerably when he was done. "Hi there," he told her genially. "What's a beautiful girl like you doing watching a bunch of men fight?"

"I'd like to compete," she replied evenly. She braced herself.

As she'd expected, he scoffed. "Uh, I don't think that will be happening, honey. We're Mandalorian soldiers trained in many forms of hand-to-hand combat. We don't exactly know how to hold back, even with a little female."

Typical. Avery was unfazed, because she'd had this reaction countless times in the War- men who thought she was too delicate looking, too feminine, too much a woman to lead them or to fight. She decided to go the easy route this time. A thread of Force channeled her next statement. "I don't want them to hold back. I wouldn't be here asking you unless I wanted to compete."

Apparently, her persuasion was successful. "Mmph. Okay. But you're telling me now that you take full responsibility for injuries you take and scars that are left."

"Right."

"Fine. Knockout only, or shoved from the outer ring there. No weapons, no armor, no Jedi nonsense. You're allowed to call for surrender if you like."

She knew these rules well. "Got it."

The fight had ended while they talked, and the leader took a while carefully explaining to the group that a girl would be fighting. A few refused and walked away, and a few- the smart ones- looked at her with suspicion. She took off her outer cloak and walked into the ring with eager anticipation. This would be fun.

A thin-looking soldier stood across from her and put his fists up. When the whistle sounded, he charged in for a punch. Avery deftly caught his fist and twisted his arm up in a practiced move to threaten a broken arm. He lasted maybe four seconds before he tapped out.

The excitement became tangible now. The men didn't know what to expect from her, and a challenge outside of soldiers in their own group was a welcome shift. The next one jumped in, burly and obviously unthinking. The whistle blew and he ducked his shoulder down, advancing toward her stomach. Easy. Avery flipped up and over him, brought her elbow neatly down into his spine, and he was out cold.

"Four more challengers," the leader called, barely containing the astonishment in his voice. A soldier volunteered, and Avery sensed that this one would be a tad more difficult.

In the ring, he stood waiting for her first move. Clearly a smarter one. She didn't hesitate, however. She rushed up and instantly stepped to the right, as she knew he would when she got close enough- her fist drew back, slammed hard into his gut. Her forearm was already down to block the kick he sent up, and she pivoted back for a hard punch to the left side of his jaw. On the ground, he grudgingly tapped out.

As the third made his way in with solid determination, Avery saw Atton standing in the audience, his arms crossed. He waved a little at her.

The soldier had a low stance, caution in each line of his body. A few of the spectators called out mocking warnings to her- this Zavrus was a vigilant fighter. Avery began to circle him. He was so focused on her movement, she began to smile. If she could pull this off…

She feinted to the left quickly, then forward, then circled back to the right. He mirrored her movements. Her expression turned to a grimace and she sprinted up- he was concentrated on her movements and promptly backed up out of the circle. The whistle blew. The men erupted into gales of laughter, patting Zavrus' back, noting the bright flush of red in his face. Finally, Zavrus turned to her and bowed. "You've taught me to be aware of more than my opponent. I know now to watch my surroundings." Even he was laughing. "Thank you, ma'am."

Avery bowed back. "Of course. My next opponent?"

A sturdy, bearded man stepped up. The crowd hushed briefly. "Cairus, are you sure?" one soldier called out.

The man's eyes never left Avery. "She has shown me enough that this will be worth my time."

She sized him up. Large, but not reckless. Scars on his chest and face, so lots of experience. Strong, balanced, deliberate…but maybe not so quick. This would be a good match.

She stripped her sleeved shirt off to just her plain undershirt. No shortcuts to victory here; she'd need more room to move.

As the whistle blew, the fighters circled and moved in. Cairus drew far back and slammed forward with astonishing force, but Avery was blessedly quick and managed to dodge it. There was so much momentum behind it that he stumbled a bit. If that had hit her…

He didn't hesitate. A vicious roundhouse kick sped toward her ribs, and her reflexes only just saved her. Offensive maneuvers wouldn't be likely here. She had to find a way to use all his power against him.

She sent a light jab to his stomach, weaved behind him before he reacted, and landed a short kick to his upper thigh. It was like sparring with a rock. When he rushed forward, she only just stopped herself from stepping outside the circle. She dropped, rolled back to the center.

"That was close," Cairus teased. "Maybe a better option than a knockout though."

She finally had a plan. She moved closer, drew up for an obvious kick, and watched. As she'd hoped, he reared back for another of those thunderous punches. Avery's foot dropped, her fist clenched, and she moved in at the last second. As his momentum sent his arm downward, she stepped left. Space this is going to hurt…

Her right foot stepped forward, she drew back and sent her fist crashing into his face, just as all the weight of his body tipped downward. She had her weight and his behind the punch. It sent all the muscles in her arm into a painful lock, but his head snapped back, he stumbled, and finally crashed to the ground.

The crowd was in such a frenzy that the leader called her back to rest before her final match. She sat and gratefully accepted the water she was offered, closing her eyes for a moment. Whatever's left, I doubt it will be that bad. A human tree trunk is always slow, but gracious it's painful to knock them out.

The leader grinned at her as she stood. "Damn, I apologize for underestimating you. Won't happen again."

"No problem. One more, right?"

"Yep. You're gonna like this one, I think. Figured we'd do something special for such an extraordinary competitor."

She eyed him. "Is it going to be-"

"Oh it'll be fair, don't worry. This fight's more for the fun of it anyway- Cairus is our best, and he's out."

Before she could ask anything else, Atton strolled up and flung an arm around her shoulders. "I knew you were a heartbreaker, but I hadn't realized how good you were at sending men to their knees."

She rolled her eyes. "Right."

The crowd was back, and Atton backed up and rolled his shoulders. "Ready for this last match?"

"Yep."

The leader waited until the crowd settled, then his voice rang out. "The female competitor's final opponent will be a man trained in Echani hand-to-hand combat," the leader announced. "This match is for the title, and the respect therein. Avery Kess and Atton Rand, enter the ring please."

Avery whirled to look up accusingly at Atton, who was now stripping his shirt off. He grinned engagingly at her. "C'mon, Kess, this will be fun. I've always wanted to see which one of us would win if we got into a fistfight." He tossed his shirt aside. "I gotta know how much I need to avoid pissing you off in the future."

"W-what, how did you- how?" she sputtered.

"I asked him, told him about my fighting experience, and explained how dearly I want to wrestle around with you half naked." She was outraged now, but he continued smoothly. "He totally understood."

"You- I'm gonna-"

"Beat me up? Good plan. Let's go."

Oh, there was no way she'd let him off easy now. Then again, she was in the dark about his abilities. She sized him up quickly as he walked to the ring. Slim, but muscular: lithe and quick and graceful. Long, ugly scars along his torso- he'd been in truly nasty fights in the past. An alert, swift fighter, it looked like. This wouldn't be a fun match. This would be difficult.

The crowd was quite large now, and the anticipation was catching. Avery's heart began to thud. She knew Atton had Echani training, but she didn't know how good he was. Subtlety was normally on her side against her enemies. He was watching her with hazel eyes, and his teasing expression altered to a solemn focus.

The whistle blew.

Atton was lightning. His body twisted into a hard kick that contacted her side before she could react, and she hit the ground. She rolled instantly to avoid the stomp she knew was headed for her, and flung both legs in a straight line to trip him and send him sprawling in the dirt. When she was about to jump up, she felt an iron grip around her waist, pulling her backward. He pinned the entirety of his long body along hers, his grip digging into her wrists, and he had the gall to wink at her. There was a ragged cut on his cheek. "Want to tap out?" he said in a voice that was far more appropriate for an entirely different situation.

Avery only gritted her teeth. She saw a flash of surprise on Atton's face as her knees folded, and in one graceful motion, she'd sent her legs over his and twisted her body up and around. He somersaulted away before she could drive an elbow into his back.

"Nice," he said admiringly. "Looks like we wouldn't be able to use that position often. Not unless you're willing to be good."

His flirting only accelerated her anger. Unbeknownst to him, however, Avery's anger was not a disadvantage in a fight like so many opponents. It only made her faster.

This time, she was ready when he drove forward. She blocked his incoming punch, her other fist smacked into his ribs. His elbow swung to her cheek, but her head curled under it as she delivered a knee to his stomach. The hit from his right hand connected hard into her shoulder. When she reflexively stepped back, he sent a high kick. She ducked under and managed a solid hit to his jaw.

By this time, the two were out of breath and hurt in various places. When the leader called for a break, neither protested.

"You're keeping up pretty well, babe," Atton called across the ring. He took a long drink and washed the blood from his face.

Avery looked up from her water. "Keeping up? I've been-"

She stopped short. Blood was welling up on his face again, water rolling off his skin, his brown hair was tousled from the wrestling. He looked feral…dangerous…and really appealing.

Somehow, he knew, despite her care to keep her face impassive. He smirked. "You've been…what? Busy gawking at me? No wonder you're having such trouble."

Avery ignored him and cracked her knuckles. That was it. He wouldn't have the ability to tease her when this was over.

There were six long, nasty rounds. By the end, the two weren't doing much except exchanging exhausted swings and gasping for breath. Avery finally, grudgingly surrendered when her limbs couldn't take it anymore. He'd gotten her in the stomach, the ribs, her temple, and her knees, and she'd never fought this long or this hard without the Force to back her up. Atton had that distinct advantage.

She was dreading Atton's mockery as the leader announced Atton the victor, but he bowed low and joined in heartily as the large crowd of Mandalorians cheered her accomplishments. Mandalore would certainly notice her now.

She finally made her way through the throng of admiring soldiers and sat tiredly on the bottom bunk of her assigned room. She was too exhausted to even move for a while, and she didn't look up as Atton walked in, thankfully dressed now and looking thoroughly beat up. He seamlessly moved to kneel in front of her and pick up one of her limp, dirty hands.

When he reverently kissed the back of her hand, however, her eyes widened. "What-"

"Avery Kess, you are truly extraordinary, and you hold my respect for as long as I live. You've officially proved why you were such a prolific general in the War, and I'll never question your abilities again."

Her astonishment was brief, because it took too much energy, but she managed a nod. "Well, um, thank you."

Atton stood. "Bao Dur managed to fix up a lot of their systems while we were, er, busy, so we're guaranteed a ride in tomorrow. You did great, Avery. Get some rest."

"I will," she told his retreating back.

"Oh, and by the way," He opened the door, his profile in bright relief from the sun outside, "I call the bottom bunk."

The door closed, and Avery's face screwed up in exasperation. He'd beaten her twice.

That evening was full of congratulations for Avery and Atton, admiration for Bao Dur's expertise, and rather large amounts of food. By dark, the party shuffled into their room eager for sleep. Kreia didn't even speak for once, but curled up into bed, while Bao Dur talked with his remote until he drifted off.

The room was black, with only the glow of the screens in the next room peeking through the cracks of the door. Atton wasn't sleepy yet, and by the shifts above him, Avery was still awake. Since everyone else was passed out, he figured a few questions wouldn't hurt.

"So, Avery." He poked the mattress above him. "How many men have you killed?"

A pause. Then, "Men or people?"

His eyebrows rose slightly. "Uh, people."

Again, she took a moment before replying. "As a direct result of me or as an indirect result of my decisions?"

The eyebrows were all the way up now. "How about directly, from when you started as a Jedi til now?"

There was such a long stretch of quiet he began to think she'd fallen asleep. Her voice finally broke the silence. "Mm, several hundred. Hard to keep count in the War. Used to be able to kill fifty at a time."

"Whew." He took a while to process this. It wasn't easy picturing this girl as the dynamic general everyone said she'd been, who could take down dozens of soldiers at a time. But maybe that gave her an advantage. Fifty men would see her standing there and figure she was a fill-in cause the army hadn't shown up yet. Then, she turns out to be the army...

"Avery?"

"Mm?" she hummed sleepily.

"What about indirectly?"

"Thousands," she whispered. "I killed thousands."

He heard the mattress above him rustle as she curled up in bed. "Then again, I saved ten times that many in the process."

Atton didn't ask any more questions, and Avery fell asleep.