A/N: in which theron is not a jedi, cori and lana make a decision, and felix is perfect

I love felix a lot, okay. and I'm 99% certain he's the one with ambient dialogue on yavin telling you to stay hydrated. I love him. also! my smuggler makes an appearance and crime is committed.

"You know the Captain well?"

"Jorgan? Yeah." Felix stared down at his caf cup; despite having not yet touched it, he seemed unreasonably alert and cheery for the morning. "Served with him back on Ord Mantell. That was years ago, now." With a bit of a grin, he added, "He's still a hardass, though."

For the sake of small talk, Theron almost pointed out that Felix hadn't ever mentioned serving on Ord Mantell before; he didn't know Felix all that well, but well enough to know that the topic of his constant reassignment was one to avoid.

It was, however, too early for small talk; Theron was regretting whatever it was that had possessed him to carry on a conversation with Rei long after she'd left the camp on a whim the night before. It had almost been worth it; despite the little sleep he'd gotten, he now had a collection of odd — endearing, some part of his mind corrected — facts about Rei — she kept her former master's lightsaber on her ship, for example, her favorite sandwich shop in Kaas City had gone out of business the year before, and she collected Republic military merchandise because she thought it was amusing.

"What's on the agenda for today, anyway?" Felix asked, pulling Theron from his thoughts. "All Major Sohms told me was that Darth Nox needed help and Havoc was busy."

Theron glanced up, shrugging. Whatever Rei needed them for, it involved Revan's temple — beyond that, he had no idea what she had planned.

"Oh. Well, I'd just figured, since…"

"What?"

But Felix simply shook his head. "Nevermind. It's not really my business, anyway."

He sighed, not missing the implication behind Felix's words. He and Rei had hardly had any time to spend together since she'd arrived on Yavin — she brought him caf almost every morning, if they could spare the time, but mostly they'd been far too busy — and yet somehow everyone seemed to know. He wasn't sure if it was Rei's failed attempts at what she claimed was subtlety or if it was simply gossip. "I guess it's sort of an open secret."

He was surprised to find that Felix chuckled a bit at the remark. "Believe me, I know the feeling."

As far as Theron was concerned, marrying a Jedi wasn't exactly the same sort of mistake as… whatever it was he was doing with Rei. But, he supposed, Felix had a point. "Well, it's not like the Council is going to interrogate either of us," he shrugged. "And this isn't serious or long term or anything, so…" Theron suppressed the urge to fidget at the words; he knew it already, but actually saying it was oddly… uncomfortable.

"That's what I said," Felix pointed out, giving him a knowing look, "and look where I ended up. And all it took was two months on Hoth."

Theron rolled his eyes; he'd heard the story more than once from T'sereen. Besides, he knew — or, at least, really hoped — that Felix was just giving him a hard time. Which he was grateful for, in a way, considering most everyone else seemed to respond by lecturing him on just what an awful idea it was.

As if he didn't already know that.

Theron glanced up to find T'sereen sweeping through the camp, clearly looking for someone. She stopped when she found Felix, leaning down for a brief kiss before filling him in. "Nadia's out with the rest of the researchers. I'm headed out to the far outpost with Tharan to help with the wounded. We'll be a couple of days."

He nodded. "Stay safe, don't do anything I wouldn't do. And drink plenty of water."

"No promises." She began to leave, then paused and turned to Theron. "You I need to speak with."

"Good luck," Felix offered cheerily. "I'll go find Darth Nox, see if she's ready to leave."

T'sereen watched as he left, her expression softening to the point where Theron couldn't hold back a remark. "Careful, someone might get the wrong idea. People will start to think you can be nice — it'll ruin your reputation."

She rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. And what about you, Agent I-work-alone? I hear you're taking this truce rather seriously."

"Don't even start."

"Fine — I don't want to hear about Nox, anyway. I already know more than enough about her." Her words piqued Theron's curiosity, but he didn't pry. T'sereen motioned for him to follow, leading them back towards the clearing where a few of the ships were. As they made their way towards a small shuttle, T'sereen explained, "I needed help with some things, and asked a… contact of mine to come take care of it."

Theron recognized the woman leaning against the shuttle; she'd waltzed into their safehouse on Rishi with that same smirk, a pair of blasters at her hip and a Wookie in tow. "Captain Margaret Sala," he greeted, wondering why exactly she was back.

T'sereen glanced between them. "You've met?"

The captain shrugged. "You're not the only one who pays me to keep their name clean."

Before, she'd been hired by Major Sohms to investigate the situation on Rishi in an attempt to avoid any possible fallout with her superiors in the military. Now, surrounded by Sith and in the middle of Imperial space, Theron almost didn't want to know what T'sereen was planning.

"I don't know the extent of whatever you've gotten into with Nox," T'sereen began, tone sharp, "and I really don't want to. But this is Republic business, and it's important, and I'm putting a lot on the line here."

"You don't have to worry about Nox." Theron wasn't sure if he was more insulted or simply annoyed that T'sereen felt the need to question his loyalty. "What's going on here?"

"Crime," Captain Sala announced. "Ethical crime."

"Whatever secrets the Imperials pull from these ruins, we're taking," T'sereen clarified. "Tablets, datacrons, whatever artifacts and information they recover, the Jedi need. I'm not overly concerned with the Massassi, or even the Imperial Guard, but anything regarding Revan belongs to us."

"So why tell me? Does it have to do with going to the temple?" There were several things about T'sereen's words that unnerved Theron, but the most unsettling thing was the determined glint in her eyes. She'd always been upfront about her tendency to obsess, to waste her time and others' on near-impossible goals; it was part of the reason he hadn't recommended her for the original strike team, all those months ago when they'd been preparing the attack on Korriban.

If this would be turning into a similar crusade, he wanted no part in it.

But T'sereen shook her head. "I made the mistake of going to Satele first. She disapproves — of course — so I've taken things into my own hands, but she's keeping a close eye on me now. I need information," she admitted. "Where Nox has her teams stationed, where their camps are—"

"And how they're transporting the artifacts." Captain Sala pushed off from where she was leaning against the shuttle, crossing her arms. "This jungle has to be hard to navigate — our best bet is gonna be whenever they move the artifacts up to the main base."

"That's all on the display back at camp," Theron offered.

"Perfect. I can grab the coordinates from there." She banged on the shuttle door and called out, "Rish! Hurry it up." Satisfied, she slung an arm around Theron's shoulders and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial half-whisper. "See, officially, I'm here with medical supplies, but we don't want Satele getting suspicious of T'sereen. So you get to be the initiative-taker that called me here."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now let's hurry, because Sith make me nauseous."

"I'll handle this, acolyte." Lana shooed the young Sith away, taking the datapad from him and offering Cori an apologetic smile as she glanced over its contents. "Darth Nox's little declaration has got you trapped, too?" she asked, scrolling through the empty forms.

Cori let out a little huff of frustration. "One of those mechanisms she's trying to get to is right in the middle of those Massassi ruins, and she asked for help, so I sent Rusk with some Republic soldiers down to the lower wilds this morning," she explained, her shoulders slumping helplessly. "We haven't heard from them since they left — and that was hours ago. I'm starting to get worried."

Despite Marr being able to lessen Nox's demands somewhat, it was still putting strain on the entire camp; she'd decided that, in lieu of clearly defined dig sites, she would attempt to monitor activity across the entire moon. Lana had thought it was ridiculous to attempt, until Nox gathered a small army of young Sith — each of them eager to earn her favor — and put them in charge of organizing the paperwork. Anyone attempting to leave the camp was immediately ambushed by no less than three demanding apprentices.

The Imperials were subject to the stifling arrangement as well, but it was clearly Nox's way of keeping an eye on the Republic. Lana wasn't even sure if she was trying to hide that fact, either.

But Cori was worried, and that was more important to Lana than wondering if she was undermining Nox's authority. "Go on — I can vouch for you," she offered, placing a gentle hand on the Jedi's arm. They'd made some progress towards reconciliation, but Lana knew she still had a ways to go before re-earning Cori's trust.

She hesitated. "No. That's— that's exactly why Nox made the decision in the first place. There's no reason to risk making things worse."

"Then we'll call. Certainly one of the teams that are already down there can spare someone to check up on them."

"No," Cori repeated, tone firm. "I'm the one who sent Rusk down there, I need to be the one who goes. If I—"

"Cori," Lana interrupted softly, fighting the urge to reach for her hand or cup her cheek or offer any sort of physical comfort. Even though she was — mostly — certain it would be appreciated, that they'd reached enough of an accord regarding her actions on Rishi that Cori would accept her affection, Lana held back.

Cori Ven — the Jedi in battered armor, the woman who willingly took on the weight of the galaxy, the savior who Satele praised and lauded in place of her own son — still saw attachments as a weakness.

Lana disagreed, naturally, but didn't argue; if Cori was so desperate for the Grandmaster's approval that she wanted to keep her affection for Lana entirely private, then Lana would indulge her.

It was utterly ridiculous, but she would indulge her.

"You don't need to handle everything yourself," she reminded Cori. Another shortcoming — Satele had somehow convinced Cori she was entirely irreplaceable, in a sense that went beyond simply valuing her and led to a paralyzing sense of responsibility. At the very least, Lana hoped to prove to Cori she wasn't alone in her endeavors. "Let me call first, at least."

Cori relented after a half-hearted protest. Lana suspected that Havoc Squad was their best choice, but didn't have the Major's holofrequency and, really, didn't like the woman enough to even endure a short conversation. She didn't particularly like the captain, either. Or the droid. Or any of Havoc, she supposed.

Instead, she contacted Talos, expecting him to be close enough to the ruins to investigate. It was also likely he'd have a large enough team to be able to send someone to investigate. To Lana's surprise, it wasn't Talos' image that appeared at the holoterminal, but a young woman dressed in Jedi robes.

"Um," she hesitated, "Lana, right?"

"We need your help, Nadia." Cori stepped into view.

Her eyes widened in recognition, and she gave a short bob of her head. "Of course, Master Cori. I'm with Talos and a few soldiers and we're… sort of in a cave. I'm not sure how much help I can be."

"The cave — is it near the Massassi ruins?"

Nadia hesitated again. "Yes, but the ruins aren't exactly small."

"It's fine," Cori assured her. "This morning I sent one of my crew — Sergeant Rusk, I believe you've met him — out with a group of soldiers to assist Nox. We haven't heard from them."

Before she could actually ask for help, Nadia nodded vigorously. "They're fine. We ran into them, um… a couple of hours ago, maybe. They're up at the new camp now."

"What new camp?"

"The ruins are so big and spread out that it was getting too dangerous to go all the way back to the outposts when someone was hurt," Nadia explained, voice faltering momentarily as she glanced behind her. "Talos says he's here if you need him, Lord Beniko."

"The camp," Lana pressed.

"Major Sohms and Doctor Cedrax set up a temporary camp to treat some injuries," she continued. "It was just supposed to be enough to keep the soldiers alive until they could make it back to the outpost, but then…" Nadia paused, frowning in thought. "Then the medic that travels with the Wrath started helping, and I think that's where T'ser— um, Master Neiri is now."

"Good." Lana nodded; a camp on the far side of the ruins made sense, even if it would be more difficult to ensure it received the necessary supplies. Luckily, their mission seemed to be drawing to an end, so their dwindling medical supplies — hopefully — wouldn't be an issue. "And the mechanisms? How are they coming along?"

"We've got three uncovered in the ruins itself," she reported, expression brightening. "Theron said according to the sensors, there's a fourth. There's another team looking for it, though. The one we've found is more complex. Talos is trying to translate some of the runes — we think they may tell us how it all works."

"I'll give Darth Nox the update. Alert us when you've secured the final mechanism." After Nadia's cheery Of course!, the line fizzled out, leaving Cori and Lana in relative privacy. "Of all the days for Nox to go hunting for Revan," Lana sighed, searching for a topic of conversation for the sake of spending a few more moments with Cori.

But Cori didn't seem interested; she was staring at the ground, a frown slowly beginning to form. "This is it, isn't it?" she asked, glancing up at Lana. "Tomorrow, maybe the day after… and it's all over, one way or another." Before Lana could say anything, Cori admitted, "I didn't realize it would be so difficult."

"Neither did I. But—" Lana hesitated; as far as she was concerned, there was no need to dwell on the subject just yet, but she was also aware that it could simply be Cori's way of pulling away. While she did follow the code of her Order, she didn't necessarily agree with the common interpretation, but Lana didn't know exactly how far Cori was willing to continue in regards to their feelings for each other.

If this was the Jedi's way of ending things, of declaring that they could be allies — perhaps even friends — but no more, then Lana wouldn't press for more.

But when Cori looked back up at her, there was a new sort of determination in her eyes. "Stay with me?" She reached for Lana's hands, her eyes flicking down to their intertwined fingers before glancing upwards again. "Tonight. If you'd like."

Part of Lana wanted to accept, to admit that the question had been on her own mind for quite some time, but part of her immediately protested; as inane as she found some of the Jedi Order's restrictions, she knew how important it all was to Cori, and her earlier hesitance only strengthened. But the heat in Cori's gaze and the longing in her voice was enough to shatter any resistance Lana would have given. "Only if you're certain this is what you want."

Cori glanced off towards the Republic side of their main base, but with the recent quiet in camp she and Lana were alone for the moment. She leaned forward for a brief, chaste kiss, and Lana found herself tightening her grasp on the togruta's hands to keep from pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. "I'm certain," she promised.

Rei's muscles were beginning to ache and one of her legs had fallen asleep, but she didn't dare move. She was seated in the middle of the central chamber of Revan's temple, making a poor attempt at meditating. Theron alternated between typing away at a datapad and pacing behind Rei, while Iresso stood watch at the entrance.

The outer portion of the temple, as Revan had pointed out the last time Rei had visited, was damaged enough that any sealed rooms could be accessed through holes in either the outer walls or walls to adjacent rooms or, in one case, through the collapsed ceiling. The central room — and the largest, so far — led deeper into the temple, to rooms that were half-underground and currently inaccessible due to a sealed door.

Rei had tried forcing it, shooting lightning at it, searching for an opening mechanism, and shooting lightning at it again, before giving up and attempting to meditate. She was missing something; her original intent had been to find Revan again, but in the absence of Layla's ghost, Rei had taken to scouring the rest of the temple and recording anything of interest.

She was missing something, and yet had been over the temple grounds a half dozen times.

A thought was beginning to occur to her, and Rei was starting to think she'd have to leave the temple for the time being and do some outside research first. She waved Theron over, grabbing his hand when he was close enough and tugging him down to sit cross-legged beside her.

"You're giving up?" he guessed, not pulling his hand from hers.

"No." Still staring at the door, she explained, "I need a Jedi."

"I'm—"

"Not a Jedi," she finished. "Your pacing was distracting," she lied, not about to admit that she simply enjoyed being close to him. Rei shifted so she was seated in a more comfortable position before speaking again. "At the moment, we have no record of Layla Karris ever being on Yavin 4. Obviously, she was, so step one is to find out when. It's possible the situation requires a method that's a touch less… dark."

Theron offered an unimpressed sigh and a sidelong glance. "So, we've been out here all day, and now you're saying we have to wait on a Jedi to come all the way from camp to do all the same things you've been doing."

Rei almost felt guilty for having Theron come with her; she didn't care about the lieutenant, but it had occurred to her — several hours too late, of course — that she should've at least asked Theron. Not that she would've had the time, considering it had been a spur of the moment decision meant to spite Satele.

"Theron, you underestimate me. I never work with a Jedi unless forced." Rei fished out her holocomm, punching in Darth Praetis' frequency. "I have a secret weapon."

The Sith's image appeared a moment later; she was dressed in an immaculate gown, her dark hair pulled into a neat bun and a drink in hand. "Darth Nox," she greeted stiffly, amber eyes flicking towards Theron.

"Darth Praetis. I need a favor."

"One moment." Praetis handed off her glass to someone, her image flickering as she walked. "Delicate business," she offered in apology. "Can I assume it's about Revan?"

"We need to know if she was ever on Yavin 4," Rei confirmed.

Praetis' lips pursed in thought. "I couldn't say. I can check. Thanaton's old library on the Citadel — you've maintained it, I presume?" When Rei nodded, Praetis added, "I'll send my apprentice there to search. With your permission, of course."

"Absolutely. Tell her to let me know when she arrives. Security's been upgraded and I'd hate for her to run into trouble." With Praetis' promise that Vrynn would call, Rei set her holocomm down and tilted her head up towards Theron. "And now we wait."

Theron raised an eyebrow, regarding Rei with amusement. "Pretty impressive, as far as secret weapons go."

Before Rei could respond to his sarcasm, Iresso cleared his throat; the lieutenant stood in the doorway behind them, hesitant and looking almost confused. "You might want to come take a look at this, Darth Nox. There's a… it looks like a holocron of some sort. Sith, maybe."

With an exasperated sigh, she finally relinquished her grip on Theron's hand and pulled herself to her feet. "And you're an expert on Sith holocrons?" Assuming he was right, and had actually found a Sith holocron, Rei wouldn't care if the Emperor himself had handed it to Iresso — no matter how it had been found, it was now hers to study.

Iresso hesitated again. "It doesn't look like a Jedi artifact, so… call it a hunch." He led her back into the room with the collapsed ceiling, delicately picking up a holocron that sat on one of the larger pieces of rubble. The room was covered with pieces of tablets and shards of pottery and various other artifacts, along with enough stone to make it nearly impossible to move around. "It was tucked away in all this debris. Easy enough to miss, but it glows just enough to stand out now that it's getting dark."

Rei grabbed the holocron and clambered back out of the room, holding up the little cube with a triumphant grin as she approached Theron. "Forget my secret weapon and forget the Jedi," she announced, "because this may be all I need."

"You think it belonged to Revan?"

She shrugged. "I'm not even sure the temple belonged to Revan. But this — it's not Sith, not exactly. I'll have to find a way to access it first, but…" She trailed off, studying the elaborate designs on the holocron's exterior. There was something familiar about the whole thing, something that reminded her distinctly of the ritual Zash had attempted years ago. "I think I need to talk to Zash first."

"Zash?" Theron echoed. He looked concerned — no doubt brought on by Rei's sudden hesitance — but said nothing further.

"Long story. She's a sort of advisor to me, now." To her relief, Theron didn't press, and Rei pushed the subject from her mind and instead pulled out her holocomm. As Talos' image appeared, Rei forced a grin and gave the holocron a little wave. "Talos! We have work to do when this is all over."

His expression brightened, eyes widening in curiosity. "Did you find that in the temple?

"I did, and I'll fill in you and Ashara as soon as the Revanites are taken care of. How are things with you?"

"Mission success, my lord," Talos reported proudly. "Each of the locking mechanisms has been accounted for. Nadia and I are far from finished with the translations, but we believe we've nearly worked out how to use the mechanisms."

"Perfect. I'll be there first thing in the morning," she promised. "Keep working at those translations. We'll report in to Marr and the others."