"Ow! Easy, mate. That hurt!"

Haborym snorted. "Baby." He had barely cut this patient, and he still complained as though Haborym had cut off his hand. "I needed a biopsy of this mole on your back. You don't want to let these things go, you know. Ruins the meat." Haborym set the tissue sample down on his workbench and grabbed another bite of meat chips, his favorite snack.

"I don't even want tae ask how you know that." Jodoc rolled his shirt back down and looked around the disheveled medbay he found himself in. "Still can't believe I'm on an Imperial ship. Nobody shooting at me."

"Yeah well, we here at Halcyon Incorporated™ take the health and safety of our members very seriously." He studied the datapad readout of Jodoc's vitals and took another bite of his snack. "You're pretty spry for an older guy."

The Cathar frowned. "Hey now, I'm not that old."

"You worked with Lothärius back in his day, right? And he's like, two hundred years old, right?"

Jodoc looked at the strange man incredulously. "Are you even a real doctor?"

Haborym ate another meat chip. "Not even close. But I've got a thing for anatomy." He grinned at the newest Halcyon clan member. "Now then, let's take a look at that tissue sample. Don't want you getting anything nasty growing out of that lump on your back, yeah?"

"I can think of worse fates." Jodoc felt wetness on his back, and patted the sensitive area on his shoulder where Haborym had taken the sample from. "Jaysus, I'm still bleeding! Did you even bandage this?"

"Um...that may not be our only problem." Haborym was standing in front of the workbench, not moving. His eyes drifted back and forth between the glass slide that had previously held Jodoc's tissue sample, and the box of meat chips that he had been snacking from. Back, and forth.

A drop of sweat formed on his brow. He looked left, at the empty slide, and right at the box of snacks that seemed to have at least one too many meat chips left in it. "Um...so, funny story."

Lothärius had been in the middle of a meeting with Michael Halcyon, the previous commander of the Order of Mercy, when his holocom rang. An urgent transmission from Jodoc. "Excuse me, Michael, I should take this."

"Sure, go ahead." The Jedi crossed his legs and looked around Lothärius' office.

Loth clicked on the holocom to find a furious Jodoc shouting at Haborym. "YOU ATE ME!"

"Only a little!" The faux doctor pleaded back. "It's not like you wanted it back!"

Jodoc turned back to the holocom and demanded of Lothärius. "What the hell 'ave ye gotten me into?"

The Commander stared at the transmission in confusion, vaguely aware that his guest was covering a smile in his hand. "I...don't even know how to respond to that, Jodoc."

"Your doctor here cut off a piece o' me and ate it!"

Haborym's face took over the transmission, "It was an accident, I swear! He tastes just like my favorite snack! And that mole looked way too much like one."

Jodoc pushed Haborym out of the way and the two began yelling at each other. Lothärius sighed and cut the transmission. He turned to Michael. "Is it too late to decline your offer to take over?"

Michael laughed, something he had not done in some time. "Hey, trust me, you are getting off easy compared to some of the crap we had to put up with." The mirth dropped from his face, and his voice leveled out. "Listen, I didn't ask to speak with you to reminence, however. We have...a potential situation that you should be aware of."

Lothärius set down the holocom and leaned back in his chair. "You said this had something to do with one of your new students?"

Michael frowned, and nodded. "Yes. One of them, well, it was not by accident that she was inducted. She sought me out, actually. I wasn't aware she even existed." Michael rubbed his forehead in discomfort. "If I had known, I would have gotten her off that planet years ago."

Lothärius folded his hands together. "Cut to the chase, Michael. What is it about this girl?"

Michael looked up, his brow furrowed. "Her father. He's a threat. To all of us."

Lothärius studied the datapad carefully. "This is her? 'Nila-Om'?" He pronounced the name slowly, carefully. "She's Voss, isn't she?"

Michael shook his head. "Half Voss. And apparently you'd never know it to look at her. She looks just like her father."

"Well, who is her father?"

Far away, deep in the deserts of Tatooine, a tall Togruta man with golden skin stood on the edge of a dig site. Day and night, a team of jawas and locals labored to uncover the ancient temple beneath them. The work was slow, but Zahavi cared not. His time was endless. His focus was endless. And he would take as long as he needed to ensure the eradication of the Halcyons, and everyone associated with them.